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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in California City, California

In 2025, fire departments serving California City responded to 155 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 B+ Peak yr 2024 Kern County 15,002 residents 0 reporting departments 675 5-yr
Total incidents
155
-15.3% vs 2024
Building fires
12
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$1.4M
$1.3M structure · $132K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.

155
Total Incidents
Hazardous condition, other 29 18.7%
Outside rubbish fire, other 15 9.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 14 9.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 13 8.4%
Building fires 12 7.7%
All other categories 72 46.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 25
Feb 12
Mar 6
Apr 8
May 15
Jun 25
Jul 21
Aug 16
Sep 11
Oct 7
Nov 8
Dec 1
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in California City

675 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.9M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 35 —
2022 149 —
2023 153 +2.7%
2024 183 +19.6%
2025 155 -15.3%

* Well below California City'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 12 building fires California City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
23%
6
Cause undetermined
35%
9
Intentional / arson
19%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
3
Under investigation
12%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in California City?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 122 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 48 39.3%
2 Outside area, other 16 13.1%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 13 10.7%
4 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 5 4.1%
5 Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola 4 3.3%
6 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 4 3.3%
7 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 3 2.5%
8 Wall surface: exterior 3 2.5%
9 Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory 2 1.6%
10 Cooking area, kitchen 2 1.6%
11 All other areas 22 18.0%
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 California City mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 70 57.4%
2 Arcing 10 8.2%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 8 6.6%
4 Cigarette lighter 4 3.3%
5 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 3 2.5%
6 Explosive, fireworks, other 3 2.5%
7 Fireworks 3 2.5%
8 Chemical reaction 3 2.5%
9 Heat source: other 2 1.6%
10 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 2 1.6%
11 All other sources 14 11.5%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $1.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by California City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $500,000 Fire, other Major Investigated
2 $250,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $110,520 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $35,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
6 $30,000 Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant Investigated
7 $30,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $17,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
05 How California City compares

California City vs California vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. California City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

10.33
Incidents per 1,000 residents
California City
10.33
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.8
Building fires per 1,000 residents
California City
0.8
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
California City
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of California City

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 274,626 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 48,007 45.9 mi
2008 Recreation and ceremony 37,026 34.8 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 31,089 46.6 mi
2011 Natural 25,577 16.9 mi
2011 Natural 25,213 46.3 mi
2010 Equipment and vehicle use 13,918 48.3 mi
2012 Natural 12,018 24.3 mi
2010 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 9,820 49.5 mi
1993 Natural 8,360 39.9 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,760 43.4 mi
1992 Equipment and vehicle use 7,530 49.9 mi
1996 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,150 35.1 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in California City do fires concentrate?

Top 6 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 93505 646
2 93523 10
3 93501 9
4 93519 5
5 93504 3
6 93307 2
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to California City

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