In 2025, fire departments serving Berkeley responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 88% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
278 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $221K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 74 | — | |
| 2022 | 67 | -9.5% | |
| 2023 | 41 | -38.8% | |
| 2024 | 37 | -9.8% | |
| 2025 | 59 | +59.5% |
For the 15 building fires Berkeley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 55 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 8 | 14.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 20.0% |
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 Berkeley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 34 | 61.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Candle | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Berkeley departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Berkeley sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,291 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 37.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 38.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 37.1 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 | 60163 | 278 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Berkeley. 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.