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 Haxtun responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
May peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
85 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | +54.5% | |
| 2023 | 27 | +58.8% | |
| 2024 | 11 | -59.3% | |
| 2025 | 19 | +72.7% |
For the 1 building fires Haxtun departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | 7 | 28.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 24.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 4.0% |
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 Haxtun mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 32.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 32.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 4.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Haxtun sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 79,244 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30,000 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24,000 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,570 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,783 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 1,200 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,150 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 39.6 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 Haxtun. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Haxtun.
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.