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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Citrus Heights, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Citrus Heights responded to 353 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $177K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B+ Peak yr 2023 Sacramento County 87,127 residents 0 reporting departments 2,284 5-yr
Total incidents
353
-29.5% vs 2024
Building fires
33
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$1.3M
$926K structure · $331K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 2
0 civilian deaths · 2 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.

353
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 67 19.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 40 11.3%
Unauthorized burning 36 10.2%
Building fires 33 9.3%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 27 7.6%
All other categories 150 42.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 35
Feb 31
Mar 27
Apr 24
May 47
Jun 40
Jul 39
Aug 23
Sep 26
Oct 20
Nov 27
Dec 14
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Citrus Heights

2,284 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $8.6M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 447 —
2022 454 +1.6%
2023 529 +16.5%
2024 501 -5.3%
2025 353 -29.5%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 33 building fires Citrus Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
32%
67
Cause undetermined
39%
83
Intentional / arson
19%
40
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
10
Under investigation
5%
10
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
2
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Citrus Heights?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,246 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 744 59.7%
2 Outside area, other 107 8.6%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 50 4.0%
4 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 33 2.6%
5 Other 32 2.6%
6 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 28 2.2%
7 Cooking area, kitchen 18 1.4%
8 Wildland, woods 18 1.4%
9 Exterior, exposed surface 17 1.4%
10 Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room 16 1.3%
11 All other areas 183 14.7%
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 Citrus Heights mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 876 70.3%
2 Heat source: other 63 5.1%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 46 3.7%
4 Hot or smoldering object, other 46 3.7%
5 Arcing 35 2.8%
6 Hot ember or ash 24 1.9%
7 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 18 1.4%
8 Cigarette lighter 16 1.3%
9 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 15 1.2%
10 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 15 1.2%
11 All other sources 92 7.4%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $823K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Citrus Heights departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $176,769 Building fires Significant Investigated
2 $150,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $123,085 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $92,924 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $30,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Citrus Heights compares

Citrus Heights vs California vs the nation

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

4.05
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Citrus Heights
4.05
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.38
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Citrus Heights
0.38
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Citrus Heights
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Citrus Heights

17 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.

AgeCount 
0-9 0
10-19 0
20-29 3
30-39 6
40-49 3
50-59 1
60-69 3
70-79 1
80+ 0
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 10 FF 7
Gender
M 16 F 1 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
4
1
2
2
3
3
5
4
3
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Citrus Heights

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 449,739 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2014 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 97,717 37.6 mi
2018 Other causes 90,288 49.8 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 70,868 40.2 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 27,440 45.3 mi
1992 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 24,580 45.5 mi
2001 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 16,761 48.1 mi
2018 Equipment and vehicle use 11,789 48.1 mi
2008 Natural 10,836 46.8 mi
1996 Arson/incendiarism 9,820 14.3 mi
2008 Natural 9,164 49.7 mi
2006 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 8,422 38.6 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 8,200 46.6 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Citrus Heights do fires concentrate?

Top 3 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 95621 1,240
2 95610 1,043
3 95661 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Citrus Heights

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Citrus Heights. 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.