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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Anaheim, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Anaheim responded to 573 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2022 Orange County 347,111 residents 0 reporting departments 2,522 5-yr
Total incidents
573
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
102
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$3.6M
$3.0M structure · $569K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 1
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 1 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.

573
Total Incidents
Building fires 102 17.8%
Fire, other 74 12.9%
Passenger vehicle fire 74 12.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 47 8.2%
Power line down 46 8.0%
All other categories 230 40.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 130
Feb 78
Mar 72
Apr 76
May 58
Jun 52
Jul 15
Aug 15
Sep 19
Oct 13
Nov 45
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Anaheim

2,522 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $84.1M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 610 —
2022 1,056 +73.1%
2023* 131 —
2024* 152 —
2025 573 —

* Well below Anaheim'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 102 building fires Anaheim departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
25%
53
Cause undetermined
53%
113
Intentional / arson
6%
13
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
17
Under investigation
7%
16
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
2
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Anaheim?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,180 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 Outside area, other 210 17.8%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 170 14.4%
3 Undetermined 136 11.5%
4 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 85 7.2%
5 Cooking area, kitchen 65 5.5%
6 Railroad right of way: on or near 62 5.3%
7 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 54 4.6%
8 Other 50 4.2%
9 Vehicle area, other 42 3.6%
10 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 30 2.5%
11 All other areas 276 23.4%
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 Anaheim mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 782 66.3%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 72 6.1%
3 Cigarette lighter 42 3.6%
4 Arcing 41 3.5%
5 Heat source: other 38 3.2%
6 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 38 3.2%
7 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 28 2.4%
8 Hot or smoldering object, other 18 1.5%
9 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 17 1.4%
10 Flame/torch used for lighting 14 1.2%
11 All other sources 90 7.6%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $1.9M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Anaheim departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 61% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,000,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $250,000 Passenger vehicle fire Major Investigated
3 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $60,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $60,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Anaheim compares

Anaheim vs California vs the nation

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

1.65
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Anaheim
1.65
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.29
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Anaheim
0.29
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Anaheim
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Anaheim

23 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.

AgeCount 
0-9 1
10-19 0
20-29 3
30-39 8
40-49 7
50-59 3
60-69 0
70-79 1
80+ 0
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 16 FF 7
Gender
M 16 F 7 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
7
1
3
2
6
3
3
4
4
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Anaheim

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 843,420 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 33.7 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 28.9 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 91,281 41.5 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 31.3 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 27.3 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,274 37.0 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 7.2 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 12.7 mi
1993 Power generation/transmission/distribution 24,387 49.4 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 23,025 22.6 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 22,000 31.9 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,384 33.1 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Anaheim do fires concentrate?

Top 10 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 92801 513
2 92805 404
3 92804 347
4 92806 342
5 92802 269
6 92807 176
7 92808 71
8 92887 3
9 92580 1
10 92831 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Anaheim

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Anaheim. 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.