Home› California› Bishop
2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Bishop, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Bishop responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $4K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C+ Peak yr 2022 Inyo County 3,802 residents 0 reporting departments 196 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Bishop's departments reported 13 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 39 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
13
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
3
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$4K
$4K structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 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 77% of all calls.

13
Total Incidents
Building fires 3 23.1%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 2 15.4%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 2 15.4%
Power line down 2 15.4%
Fire, other 1 7.7%
All other categories 3 23.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 0
Feb 0
Mar 6
Apr 0
May 2
Jun 0
Jul 1
Aug 0
Sep 1
Oct 0
Nov 2
Dec 1
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Bishop

196 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.5M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 79 —
2022 90 +13.9%
2023* 5 —
2024* 9 —
2025* 13 —

* Well below Bishop'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 3 building fires Bishop departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
50%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
50%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Bishop?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 14 23.3%
2 Outside area, other 11 18.3%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 10 16.7%
4 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 4 6.7%
5 Vehicle area, other 3 5.0%
6 Other 2 3.3%
7 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 2 3.3%
8 Cooking area, kitchen 2 3.3%
9 Heating room or area, water heater area 2 3.3%
10 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 2 3.3%
11 All other areas 8 13.3%
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 Bishop mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 26 43.3%
2 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 7 11.7%
3 Hot ember or ash 7 11.7%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 4 6.7%
5 Fireworks 3 5.0%
6 Hot or smoldering object, other 2 3.3%
7 Heat, spark from friction 2 3.3%
8 Flame/torch used for lighting 2 3.3%
9 Heat source: other 1 1.7%
10 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 1 1.7%
11 All other sources 5 8.3%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $4K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bishop departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $3,500 Fire, other Significant Investigated
05 How Bishop compares

Bishop vs California vs the nation

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

3.42
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Bishop
3.42
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.79
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Bishop
0.79
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Bishop
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Bishop

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 678,421 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 379,895 49.5 mi
2015 Natural 151,623 44.1 mi
2018 Natural 12,990 42.4 mi
2012 Natural 12,575 44.7 mi
2019 Natural 10,265 23.1 mi
2010 Natural 9,020 44.5 mi
1992 Natural 8,800 40.4 mi
2005 Natural 8,675 39.9 mi
2008 Natural 7,456 39.0 mi
2006 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,434 32.7 mi
2015 Power generation/transmission/distribution 6,533 12.0 mi
2007 Natural 6,460 16.4 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Bishop 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 93514 191
2 93515 2
3 93065 1
4 93512 1
5 93541 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Bishop

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