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 Union responded to 19 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 68% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
90 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $20K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | -36.4% | |
| 2023 | 24 | +71.4% | |
| 2024 | 11 | -54.2% | |
| 2025 | 19 | +72.7% |
For the 7 building fires Union departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | Undetermined | 9 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 5 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 10.0% |
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 Union mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 56.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Union sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 373,299 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Natural | 56,331 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 53,547 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 50,633 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 49,100 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 37,835 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 17,823 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 12,716 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 11,615 | 36.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 11,081 | 34.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 10,137 | 29.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 8,332 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 6,900 | 43.0 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 | 97883 | 90 |
Six Oregon cities with population within ±25% of Union. 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.