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 Stanfield responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
135 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 15 | — | |
| 2022* | 15 | — | |
| 2023 | 27 | — | |
| 2024 | 45 | +66.7% | |
| 2025 | 33 | -26.7% |
* Well below Stanfield'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 6 building fires Stanfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 61 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 | Outside area, other | 15 | 24.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 18.0% |
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 Stanfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 18.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 10 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 8.2% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 6.6% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 13.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Stanfield departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $250 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Stanfield sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 288,688 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Natural | 78,000 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 20,947 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 19,650 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,765 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,756 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,377 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 11,300 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,408 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,929 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 9,357 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 8,988 | 17.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 8,480 | 43.6 mi |
Top 3 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 Stanfield. 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.