Senators Warn Federal Firefighting Budget Nearly Exhausted With Fire Season Not Over
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In 2025, fire departments serving Gunnison responded to 41 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 68% of all calls.
Dec peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
233 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | — | |
| 2022 | 41 | -12.8% | |
| 2023 | 49 | +19.5% | |
| 2024 | 55 | +12.2% | |
| 2025 | 41 | -25.5% |
For the 1 building fires Gunnison departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 65 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 | 13 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 16.9% | |
| 3 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 26.2% |
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 Gunnison mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 24.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Candle | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 10.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gunnison sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,953 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 6,600 | 32.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 3,848 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 1,587 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 1,084 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 859 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 847 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 814 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 747 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 720 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 585 | 10.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 515 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 447 | 39.1 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 Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Gunnison. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gunnison.
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.