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 North Plains responded to 54 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
216 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $886K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45 | — | |
| 2022 | 42 | -6.7% | |
| 2023 | 36 | -14.3% | |
| 2024 | 39 | +8.3% | |
| 2025 | 54 | +38.5% |
For the 8 building fires North Plains departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 78 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Service facilities, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 16.7% |
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 North Plains mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 16.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by North Plains departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North Plains sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,069 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,508 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,508 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 532 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 497 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 301 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 260 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 215 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 211 | 14.1 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of North Plains. 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.