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.
In 2025, fire departments serving Monument responded to 103 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. 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 61% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
811 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 182 | — | |
| 2022 | 160 | -12.1% | |
| 2023 | 123 | -23.1% | |
| 2024 | 243 | +97.6% | |
| 2025 | 103 | -57.6% |
For the 4 building fires Monument departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 80 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 | 20 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 28.7% |
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 Monument mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 28 | 35.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 16.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Monument departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Outside gas or vapor combustion explosion | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Monument sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 320,625 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 137,760 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 42,795 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18,947 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,580 | 7.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 11,875 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,636 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,064 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,355 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,328 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 6,000 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 43.1 mi |
Top 5 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 Monument. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Monument.
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.