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 Kremmling responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
147 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $38K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | -3.3% | |
| 2023 | 40 | +37.9% | |
| 2024 | 19 | -52.5% | |
| 2025 | 29 | +52.6% |
For the 4 building fires Kremmling 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 | Undetermined | 16 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 3 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 14.7% |
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 Kremmling mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 44.1% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Lightning | 7 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kremmling sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 515,179 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 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 193,812 | 12.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 20,517 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 20,120 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 17,056 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,833 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 14,403 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 5,538 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 4,400 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,498 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,452 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 1,322 | 26.4 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 Kremmling. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kremmling.
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.