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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Castaic, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Castaic responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A+ Peak yr 2024 Los Angeles County 18,643 residents 0 reporting departments 248 5-yr
Total incidents
45
-36.6% vs 2024
Building fires
2
Residential 50% Other 50%
Property loss
$659K
$391K structure · $268K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 1
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 1 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.

45
Total Incidents
Passenger vehicle fire 6 13.3%
Road freight or transport vehicle fire 6 13.3%
Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other 5 11.1%
Heat from short circuit (wiring), defective/worn 4 8.9%
Cooking fire, confined to container 3 6.7%
All other categories 21 46.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 12
Feb 0
Mar 5
Apr 1
May 2
Jun 4
Jul 1
Aug 4
Sep 7
Oct 4
Nov 3
Dec 2
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Castaic

248 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 49 —
2022 40 -18.4%
2023 43 +7.5%
2024 71 +65.1%
2025 45 -36.6%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 2 building fires Castaic departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
63%
12
Cause undetermined
11%
2
Intentional / arson
5%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
21%
4
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Castaic?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 96 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 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 32 33.3%
2 Undetermined 17 17.7%
3 Vehicle area, other 12 12.5%
4 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 6 6.2%
5 Outside area, other 4 4.2%
6 Other 3 3.1%
7 Exterior, exposed surface 3 3.1%
8 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 2 2.1%
9 Cooking area, kitchen 2 2.1%
10 Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola 2 2.1%
11 All other areas 13 13.5%
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 Castaic mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Heat from powered equipment, other 21 21.9%
2 Undetermined 20 20.8%
3 Heat source: other 14 14.6%
4 Hot or smoldering object, other 9 9.4%
5 Heat, spark from friction 8 8.3%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 5 5.2%
7 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 4 4.2%
8 Arcing 4 4.2%
9 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 3 3.1%
10 Incendiary device 2 2.1%
11 All other sources 6 6.2%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $377K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Castaic departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $150,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
2 $125,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $50,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
4 $25,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
5 $12,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
6 $5,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
7 $5,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $5,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
05 How Castaic compares

Castaic vs California vs the nation

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

2.41
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Castaic
2.41
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.11
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Castaic
0.11
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Castaic
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Castaic

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,631,034 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 281,893 24.7 mi
2020 Natural 174,178 36.2 mi
2006 Debris and open burning 162,702 13.0 mi
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 30.2 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 41.6 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 7.0 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 17.2 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 7.3 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 45,300 7.4 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 13.3 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 17.2 mi
1993 Arson/incendiarism 38,152 25.6 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Castaic do fires concentrate?

Top 4 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 91384 242
2 91310 4
3 91350 1
4 91390 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Castaic

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