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 New Castle responded to 90 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $9K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
316 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $283K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | -11.1% | |
| 2023 | 75 | +56.2% | |
| 2024 | 49 | -34.7% | |
| 2025 | 90 | +83.7% |
For the 0 building fires New Castle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 59 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 | 14 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 22.0% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Interior stairway or ramp | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 13.6% |
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 New Castle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 42.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 13.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Castle departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,600 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Castle sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 142,692 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 | 32,431 | 13.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 17,056 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 13,493 | 7.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,209 | 6.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 7,815 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 5,967 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 5,538 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,292 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 4,417 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 4,030 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 3,778 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 3,226 | 49.1 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 | 81647 | 316 |
Six Colorado cities with population within ±25% of New Castle. 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.