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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Cerritos, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Cerritos responded to 166 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $187K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A+ Peak yr 2025 Los Angeles County 49,016 residents 0 reporting departments 700 5-yr
Total incidents
166
+29.7% vs 2024
Building fires
5
Residential 60% Other 40%
Property loss
$488K
$265K structure · $222K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.

166
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish fire, other 61 36.7%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 20 12.0%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 17 10.2%
Fire, other 11 6.6%
Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other 11 6.6%
All other categories 46 27.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 18
Feb 11
Mar 13
Apr 10
May 16
Jun 8
Jul 13
Aug 19
Sep 12
Oct 14
Nov 10
Dec 22
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Cerritos

700 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.5M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 134 —
2022 130 -3.0%
2023 142 +9.2%
2024 128 -9.9%
2025 166 +29.7%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 5 building fires Cerritos departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
68%
21
Cause undetermined
6%
2
Intentional / arson
10%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
5
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Cerritos?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 147 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 45 30.6%
2 Outside area, other 18 12.2%
3 Other 14 9.5%
4 Undetermined 12 8.2%
5 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 8 5.4%
6 Vehicle area, other 7 4.8%
7 Cooking area, kitchen 6 4.1%
8 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 5 3.4%
9 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 4 2.7%
10 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 3 2.0%
11 All other areas 25 17.0%
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 Cerritos mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 26 17.7%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 24 16.3%
3 Heat source: other 22 15.0%
4 Arcing 20 13.6%
5 Hot or smoldering object, other 16 10.9%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 11 7.5%
7 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 6 4.1%
8 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 5 3.4%
9 Heat, spark from friction 3 2.0%
10 Flame/torch used for lighting 3 2.0%
11 All other sources 11 7.5%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $258K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cerritos departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $187,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
2 $20,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
3 $15,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
4 $10,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
5 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $6,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $5,000 Cooking fire, confined to container Significant Investigated
8 $5,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
05 How Cerritos compares

Cerritos vs California vs the nation

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

3.39
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Cerritos
3.39
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.1
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Cerritos
0.1
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Cerritos
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Cerritos

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,008,374 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 26.8 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 27.0 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 49.5 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 44.3 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 39.5 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 43.3 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 47.9 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 29.8 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,274 44.1 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 18.9 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 24.6 mi
2005 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 24,970 42.3 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Cerritos do fires concentrate?

Top 9 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 90703 610
2 90701 25
3 90650 23
4 90715 14
5 90623 9
6 90713 9
7 90638 7
8 90706 2
9 90670 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Cerritos

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