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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Costa Mesa, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Costa Mesa responded to 343 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2023 Orange County 111,490 residents 0 reporting departments 1,656 5-yr
Total incidents
343
+8.9% vs 2024
Building fires
31
Residential 65% Other 35%
Property loss
$916K
$780K structure · $136K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.

343
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 86 25.1%
Building fires 31 9.0%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 30 8.7%
Passenger vehicle fire 27 7.9%
Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire 24 7.0%
All other categories 145 42.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 45
Feb 23
Mar 24
Apr 23
May 31
Jun 38
Jul 36
Aug 30
Sep 15
Oct 28
Nov 20
Dec 30
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Costa Mesa

1,656 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 309 —
2022 339 +9.7%
2023 350 +3.2%
2024 315 -10.0%
2025 343 +8.9%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 31 building fires Costa Mesa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
47%
34
Cause undetermined
27%
20
Intentional / arson
1%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
18%
13
Under investigation
7%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Costa Mesa?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 350 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 85 24.3%
2 Undetermined 47 13.4%
3 Cooking area, kitchen 25 7.1%
4 Other 23 6.6%
5 Outside area, other 20 5.7%
6 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 18 5.1%
7 Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace 12 3.4%
8 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 11 3.1%
9 Exterior, exposed surface 11 3.1%
10 Vehicle area, other 10 2.9%
11 All other areas 88 25.1%
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 Costa Mesa mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 197 56.3%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 33 9.4%
3 Heat source: other 26 7.4%
4 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 14 4.0%
5 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 12 3.4%
6 Arcing 9 2.6%
7 Cigarette lighter 9 2.6%
8 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 8 2.3%
9 Candle 5 1.4%
10 Hot or smoldering object, other 4 1.1%
11 All other sources 33 9.4%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $505K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Costa Mesa departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 65% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
2 $60,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
3 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $50,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
5 $40,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
6 $40,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $35,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $30,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Costa Mesa compares

Costa Mesa vs California vs the nation

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

3.08
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Costa Mesa
3.08
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.28
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Costa Mesa
0.28
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Costa Mesa
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Costa Mesa

11 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 1
20-29 2
30-39 3
40-49 2
50-59 2
60-69 0
70-79 1
80+ 0
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 9 FF 2
Gender
M 8 F 3 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
6
1
2
2
0
3
1
4
2
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Costa Mesa

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 730,926 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 42.8 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 40.3 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 42.6 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 39.6 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,274 48.6 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 17.4 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 15.2 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 23,025 23.0 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 22,000 42.6 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,384 27.9 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,004 30.6 mi
2002 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 20,857 41.8 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Costa Mesa do fires concentrate?

Top 10 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 92626 1,046
2 92627 540
3 92707 3
4 92614 2
5 92726 2
6 02626 1
7 62627 1
8 92602 1
9 92628 1
10 92629 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Costa Mesa

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Costa Mesa. 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.