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 Minturn responded to 11 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 91% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
80 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $34K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 23 | +53.3% | |
| 2023 | 11 | -52.2% | |
| 2024 | 20 | +81.8% | |
| 2025 | 11 | -45.0% |
For the 0 building fires Minturn departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 10 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 | 6 | 60.0% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 10.0% |
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 Minturn mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 30.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 10.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Minturn sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 293,734 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 | 193,812 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 32,431 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 20,120 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,833 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 13,023 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,070 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Smoking | 2,312 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,452 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 1,322 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1,232 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 42.0 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 Minturn. 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.