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 Nyssa responded to 48 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
207 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $502K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 34 | +13.3% | |
| 2023 | 26 | -23.5% | |
| 2024 | 69 | +165.4% | |
| 2025 | 48 | -30.4% |
For the 6 building fires Nyssa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 109 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 | 36 | 33.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 25 | 22.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 20.2% |
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 Nyssa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cigarette lighter | 18 | 16.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 13 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 10.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Match | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 15.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Nyssa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 619,422 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 79,914 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 54,350 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 48,435 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 46,444 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 42,543 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35,194 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 32,812 | 34.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 31,295 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 25,280 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 23,760 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 22,095 | 18.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 18,165 | 49.2 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 | 97913 | 207 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Nyssa. 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.