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 Sherwood responded to 144 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
787 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 156 | — | |
| 2022 | 179 | +14.7% | |
| 2023 | 168 | -6.1% | |
| 2024 | 140 | -16.7% | |
| 2025 | 144 | +2.9% |
For the 9 building fires Sherwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 266 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 | 61 | 22.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 45 | 16.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 22 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 13 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Service facilities, other | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 57 | 21.4% |
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 Sherwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 89 | 33.5% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 37 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 21 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 36 | 13.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sherwood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $285,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $65,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sherwood sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 427,029 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 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 138,054 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Fireworks | 48,488 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 24,400 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,508 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,508 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 790 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 532 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 497 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 43.9 mi |
Top 5 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 Sherwood. 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.