Senators Warn Federal Firefighting Budget Nearly Exhausted With Fire Season Not Over
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In 2025, fire departments serving Estes Park responded to 99 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 61% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
516 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $494K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 96 | — | |
| 2022 | 116 | +20.8% | |
| 2023 | 89 | -23.3% | |
| 2024 | 116 | +30.3% | |
| 2025 | 99 | -14.7% |
For the 1 building fires Estes Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 68 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 23.5% |
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 Estes Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 20.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 14.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Estes Park departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Estes Park sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 593,490 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 | 208,913 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 193,812 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 87,275 | 16.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,833 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,599 | 11.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 8,908 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,685 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,869 | 18.0 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 Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Estes Park. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Estes Park.
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.