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 Beavercreek responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $159K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 79% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
166 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | -38.6% | |
| 2023 | 29 | +7.4% | |
| 2024 | 23 | -20.7% | |
| 2025 | 43 | +87.0% |
For the 8 building fires Beavercreek departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 31 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 | Outside area, other | 6 | 19.4% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 16.1% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 19.4% |
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 Beavercreek mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 38.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Beavercreek departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $158,870 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Beavercreek sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 472,011 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 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 138,054 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Fireworks | 48,488 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 24,400 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 17,442 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 6,304 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 6,103 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,508 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 3,280 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 2,810 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 5.5 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 Beavercreek. 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.