In 2025, fire departments serving Berkeley responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 80% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
248 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $561K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023* | 27 | — | |
| 2024 | 143 | — | |
| 2025 | 30 | -79.0% |
* Well below Berkeley'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 16 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 46 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 | Undetermined | 14 | 30.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 6 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 13.0% |
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 | 31 | 67.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Berkeley departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Berkeley sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,571 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 19.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 56 | 42.3 mi |
Top 6 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Berkeley. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Berkeley.
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.