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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Cobb, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Cobb responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C- Peak yr 2024 Lake County 685 residents 0 reporting departments 211 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Cobb's departments reported 25 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 42 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
25
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
2
Residential 50% Other 50%
Property loss
$557K
$502K structure · $55K 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 60% of all calls.

25
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish fire, other 4 16.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 12.0%
Power line down 3 12.0%
Authorized controlled burning 3 12.0%
Building fires 2 8.0%
All other categories 10 40.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Nov peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

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

Year over year in Cobb

211 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.6M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 37 —
2022 48 +29.7%
2023 37 -22.9%
2024 64 +73.0%
2025* 25 —

* Well below Cobb'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

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

Unintentional
67%
2
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
33%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Cobb?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 4 18.2%
2 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 2 9.1%
3 Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch 2 9.1%
4 Vehicle area, other 2 9.1%
5 Outside area, other 2 9.1%
6 Undetermined 2 9.1%
7 Other 1 4.5%
8 Entrance way, lobby 1 4.5%
9 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 1 4.5%
10 Cooking area, kitchen 1 4.5%
11 All other areas 4 18.2%
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 Cobb mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 6 27.3%
2 Hot ember or ash 4 18.2%
3 Heat source: other 3 13.6%
4 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 3 13.6%
5 Arcing 3 13.6%
6 Heat from powered equipment, other 1 4.5%
7 Hot or smoldering object, other 1 4.5%
8 Backfire from internal combustion engine 1 4.5%
04 The biggest fires

4 fires · $502K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cobb departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $400,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $100,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
3 $2,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $1 Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant Investigated
05 How Cobb compares

Cobb vs California vs the nation

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

36.5
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Cobb
36.5
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
2.92
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Cobb
2.92
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Cobb
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Cobb

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,709,993 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2018 Equipment and vehicle use 410,203 34.7 mi
2020 Natural 305,651 31.0 mi
2018 Other causes 90,288 28.2 mi
1996 Arson/incendiarism 83,323 31.0 mi
2019 Power generation/transmission/distribution 76,825 3.6 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 76,067 2.1 mi
2015 Other causes 69,363 13.4 mi
2020 Equipment and vehicle use 67,484 22.0 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 56,556 32.5 mi
2020 Natural 55,209 22.2 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,624 40.1 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 48,920 27.2 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Cobb 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 95426 114
2 95461 84
3 95451 10
4 95457 3
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Cobb

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