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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Altadena, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Altadena responded to 98 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.2M building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2024 Los Angeles County 42,719 residents 0 reporting departments 544 5-yr
Total incidents
98
-20.3% vs 2024
Building fires
7
Residential 57% Other 43%
Property loss
$2.6M
$2.2M structure · $476K contents
Deaths & injuries
1 / 0
1 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.

98
Total Incidents
Power line down 29 29.6%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 15 15.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 10 10.2%
Building fires 7 7.1%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 6 6.1%
All other categories 31 31.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 39
Feb 10
Mar 9
Apr 3
May 4
Jun 2
Jul 4
Aug 6
Sep 4
Oct 6
Nov 8
Dec 3
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Altadena

544 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 110 —
2022 101 -8.2%
2023 112 +10.9%
2024 123 +9.8%
2025 98 -20.3%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 7 building fires Altadena departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
47%
7
Cause undetermined
7%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
1
Under investigation
33%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
1
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Altadena?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 87 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 originCountShare 
1 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 13 14.9%
2 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 7 8.0%
3 Outside area, other 7 8.0%
4 Undetermined 6 6.9%
5 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 5 5.7%
6 Equipment or service area, other 5 5.7%
7 Exterior, exposed surface 5 5.7%
8 Cooking area, kitchen 4 4.6%
9 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 4 4.6%
10 Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola 4 4.6%
11 All other areas 27 31.0%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Altadena mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Arcing 21 24.1%
2 Heat source: other 13 14.9%
3 Hot or smoldering object, other 13 14.9%
4 Undetermined 10 11.5%
5 Heat from powered equipment, other 8 9.2%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 6 6.9%
7 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 3 3.4%
8 Hot ember or ash 2 2.3%
9 Incendiary device 2 2.3%
10 Heat from undetermined smoking material 2 2.3%
11 All other sources 7 8.0%
04 The biggest fires

5 fires · $2.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Altadena departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,240,600 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $810,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $75,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $15,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Altadena compares

Altadena vs California vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Altadena sits below the national average for incidents per resident.

2.29
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Altadena
2.29
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.16
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Altadena
0.16
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
23.4
Civilian fire deaths per million
Altadena
23.4
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Altadena

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,387,325 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2006 Debris and open burning 162,702 47.3 mi
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 4.6 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 10.7 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 33.2 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 32.5 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 91,281 49.1 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 41.0 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 37.4 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 45,300 41.5 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 22.5 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 25.6 mi
1993 Arson/incendiarism 38,152 41.9 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Altadena do fires concentrate?

Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 91001 483
2 91104 55
3 91107 5
4 95945 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Altadena

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Altadena. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.