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 Eagle Point responded to 145 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
653 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 127 | — | |
| 2022 | 129 | +1.6% | |
| 2023 | 111 | -14.0% | |
| 2024 | 141 | +27.0% | |
| 2025 | 145 | +2.8% |
For the 12 building fires Eagle Point departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 163 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 | 29 | 17.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 15 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Other | 13 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 13 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 21.5% |
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 Eagle Point mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 15.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 24 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 22 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 13 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 28 | 17.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Eagle Point sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 630,463 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Natural | 52,839 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 48,079 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 38,008 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 35,129 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 33,344 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 33,011 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 32,846 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 32,496 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 29,454 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 27,350 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 26,452 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 22,283 | 46.3 mi |
Top 3 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 Eagle Point. 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.