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In 2025, fire departments serving Beverly Hills responded to 100 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $280K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
617 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 105 | — | |
| 2022 | 138 | +31.4% | |
| 2023 | 148 | +7.2% | |
| 2024 | 126 | -14.9% | |
| 2025 | 100 | -20.6% |
For the 6 building fires Beverly Hills departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 74 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 | 15 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 14 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 17.6% |
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 Beverly Hills mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 39 | 52.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Beverly Hills departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $280,149 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,295 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $9,500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Beverly Hills sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 49,869 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,175 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,111 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,616 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,275 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,189 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 2,000 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,000 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,775 | 41.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 1,700 | 12.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 1,700 | 15.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 20.9 mi |
Top 10 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Florida cities with population within ±25% of Beverly Hills. 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.