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 Oakland responded to 64 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
197 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $10K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 25 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 29 | +16.0% | |
| 2024 | 54 | +86.2% | |
| 2025 | 64 | +18.5% |
For the 1 building fires Oakland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 63 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 | 13 | 20.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 15.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 7.9% |
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 Oakland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 12 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oakland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 540,929 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 | 131,542 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 48,079 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48,000 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 31,449 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 26,452 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 19,775 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 19,188 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 17,697 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,600 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 17,524 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 16,679 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16,436 | 37.1 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 | 97462 | 197 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Oakland. 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.