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 Huntington responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Road freight or transport vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 90% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
82 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | — | |
| 2024 | 18 | -14.3% | |
| 2025 | 19 | +5.6% |
* Well below Huntington's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 0 building fires Huntington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 40.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 20.4% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 7.4% |
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 Huntington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Huntington departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $90,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Huntington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 809,925 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 96,614 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 79,914 | 10.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 56,331 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 54,350 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 53,547 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 49,100 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 48,435 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Other causes | 47,860 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 34,729 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 31,295 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 25,280 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 24,900 | 46.9 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 97907 | 82 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Huntington. 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.