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 Scio responded to 40 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 85% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
226 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $547K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 77 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | -42.9% | |
| 2023 | 38 | -13.6% | |
| 2024* | 27 | — | |
| 2025 | 40 | — |
* Well below Scio's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 12 building fires Scio departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 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 | 11 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 24.2% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.0% |
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 Scio mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 9.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Scio sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 528,325 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 | 193,573 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 173,393 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 138,054 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,508 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 2,810 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,171 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,033 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,508 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 1,070 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 790 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 695 | 40.7 mi |
Top 2 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 Scio. 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.