In 2025, fire departments serving California responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. California's departments reported 35 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 68 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
340 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42 | — | |
| 2022 | 73 | +73.8% | |
| 2023 | 102 | +39.7% | |
| 2024 | 88 | -13.7% | |
| 2025* | 35 | — |
* Well below California'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 14 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 71 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 | Outside area, other | 15 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 19.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 8 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 21.1% |
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 | 14 | 19.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 16.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 16.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. California sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,425 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 90 | 42.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 62 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 41.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 50 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 36 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 18.0 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 Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of California. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 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.