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.
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In 2025, fire departments serving Dillon responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
82 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $52K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 16 | -11.1% | |
| 2024 | 15 | -6.2% | |
| 2025 | 15 | +0.0% |
For the 0 building fires Dillon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Construction/renovation area | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Dillon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 7.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dillon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 273,301 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 193,812 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,833 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 13,023 | 39.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 11,875 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Smoking | 2,312 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,570 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,452 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 1,322 | 13.4 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Dillon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Dillon.
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.