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 Englewood responded to 201 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Jul peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,647 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 432 | — | |
| 2022 | 495 | +14.6% | |
| 2023 | 293 | -40.8% | |
| 2024 | 226 | -22.9% | |
| 2025 | 201 | -11.1% |
For the 10 building fires Englewood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 386 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 | 64 | 16.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 61 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 59 | 15.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 26 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 22 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 19 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 78 | 20.2% |
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 Englewood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 219 | 56.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 25 | 6.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 21 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 11 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 38 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Englewood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 86% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Englewood sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 235,853 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 137,760 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,580 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 11,875 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 5.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,085 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,008 | 31.7 mi |
Top 7 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 Englewood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Englewood.
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.