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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Apple Valley, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Apple Valley responded to 456 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2024 San Bernardino County 75,603 residents 0 reporting departments 1,297 5-yr
Total incidents
456
-12.3% vs 2024
Building fires
29
Residential 66% Other 34%
Property loss
$3.4M
$2.7M structure · $690K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 4
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 4 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.

456
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 61 13.4%
Attempted burning, illegal action, other 48 10.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 32 7.0%
Outside rubbish fire, other 31 6.8%
Building fires 29 6.4%
All other categories 255 55.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 37
Feb 18
Mar 39
Apr 30
May 42
Jun 30
Jul 52
Aug 45
Sep 46
Oct 55
Nov 52
Dec 10
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Apple Valley

1,297 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.7M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 11 —
2022* 6 —
2023 304 —
2024 520 +71.1%
2025 456 -12.3%

* Well below Apple Valley'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 29 building fires Apple Valley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
41%
33
Cause undetermined
22%
18
Intentional / arson
21%
17
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
7
Under investigation
5%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
1
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Apple Valley?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 250 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 Undetermined 83 33.2%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 33 13.2%
3 Vehicle area, other 17 6.8%
4 Outside area, other 16 6.4%
5 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 15 6.0%
6 Other 13 5.2%
7 Cooking area, kitchen 9 3.6%
8 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 8 3.2%
9 Laundry area, wash house (laundry) 5 2.0%
10 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 5 2.0%
11 All other areas 46 18.4%
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 Apple Valley mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 141 56.4%
2 Arcing 22 8.8%
3 Heat source: other 20 8.0%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 15 6.0%
5 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 12 4.8%
6 Cigarette lighter 7 2.8%
7 Flame/torch used for lighting 4 1.6%
8 Hot ember or ash 3 1.2%
9 Cigarette 3 1.2%
10 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 3 1.2%
11 All other sources 20 8.0%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $2.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Apple Valley departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $500,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $400,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $390,000 Building fires Major Investigated
4 $360,000 Building fires Major Investigated
5 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $125,350 Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant Investigated
8 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Apple Valley compares

Apple Valley vs California vs the nation

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

6.03
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Apple Valley
6.03
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.38
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Apple Valley
0.38
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Apple Valley
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Apple Valley

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 802,639 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 47.0 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 91,281 23.7 mi
1999 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 65,000 19.0 mi
2006 Natural 61,700 47.9 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 29.7 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,000 31.6 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 39.0 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,274 23.7 mi
2020 Equipment and vehicle use 33,424 40.1 mi
1998 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,164 47.7 mi
2006 Natural 24,000 28.6 mi
2020 Fireworks 22,744 35.5 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Apple Valley do fires concentrate?

Top 5 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 92307 750
2 92308 535
3 92368 7
4 92394 4
5 92342 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Apple Valley

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Apple Valley. 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.