Senators Warn Federal Firefighting Budget Nearly Exhausted With Fire Season Not Over
Five senators told Interior and USDA the $6 billion FY2026 fire suppression budget was nearly spent by Sept. 2, citing staffing gaps and firefighter deaths.
In 2025, fire departments serving Aumsville responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
206 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $610K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | — | |
| 2022 | 32 | -49.2% | |
| 2023 | 44 | +37.5% | |
| 2024 | 32 | -27.3% | |
| 2025 | 35 | +9.4% |
For the 8 building fires Aumsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 19.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 26.8% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Aumsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 29.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 12.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Aumsville departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Aumsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 360,321 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 193,573 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 138,054 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,508 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 2,810 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,033 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,508 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 1,070 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 790 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 695 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 532 | 19.6 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Aumsville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.