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 Yamhill responded to 52 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 54% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
133 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $33K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | +31.8% | |
| 2023 | 17 | -41.4% | |
| 2024* | 13 | — | |
| 2025 | 52 | — |
* Well below Yamhill'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 7 building fires Yamhill departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | 5 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 3.8% |
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 Yamhill mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Match | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 15.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Yamhill sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,150 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Natural | 7,500 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,584 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,552 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,508 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 532 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 497 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 376 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 330 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 303 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 301 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 281 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 48.2 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 Yamhill. 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.