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 Ridgway responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 60% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
161 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +68.2% | |
| 2023 | 41 | +10.8% | |
| 2024 | 26 | -36.6% | |
| 2025 | 35 | +34.6% |
For the 0 building fires Ridgway departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Swimming pool | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 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 Ridgway mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 31.0% | |
| 2 | Lightning | 7 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ridgway sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 176,194 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54,129 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 49,628 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 30,292 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,593 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 4,187 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 3,848 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 3,211 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,608 | 24.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 2,607 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 2,244 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 2,142 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 2,009 | 39.2 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 | 81432 | 161 |
Six Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Ridgway. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ridgway.
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.