In 2025, fire departments serving California responded to 58 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $225K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
426 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 102 | — | |
| 2022 | 87 | -14.7% | |
| 2023 | 96 | +10.3% | |
| 2024 | 83 | -13.5% | |
| 2025 | 58 | -30.1% |
For the 9 building fires California departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 73 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 | 19 | 26.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 12 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 26.0% |
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 California mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 45.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by California departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $225,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. California sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,210 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 2,245 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 759 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 745 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 726 | 22.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 640 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 609 | 37.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 563 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 537 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 457 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 457 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 455 | 43.5 mi |
Top 4 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 California. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in California.
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.