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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Cutten, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Cutten responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $45K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2024 Humboldt County 3,309 residents 0 reporting departments 52 5-yr
Total incidents
16
+0.0% vs 2024
Building fires
2
Residential 50% Other 50%
Property loss
$63K
$55K structure · $8K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.

16
Total Incidents
Building fires 2 12.5%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 2 12.5%
Power line down 2 12.5%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 1 6.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 1 6.2%
All other categories 8 50.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

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

Year over year in Cutten

52 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $375K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 6 —
2022 8 —
2023* 6 —
2024 16 —
2025 16 +0.0%

* Well below Cutten'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 Cutten departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
50%
2
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
25%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
25%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Cutten?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 3 21.4%
2 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 2 14.3%
3 Wildland, woods 2 14.3%
4 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 1 7.1%
5 Cooking area, kitchen 1 7.1%
6 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 1 7.1%
7 Equipment or service area, other 1 7.1%
8 Structural area, other 1 7.1%
9 Wall assembly 1 7.1%
10 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 1 7.1%
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 Cutten mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 8 57.1%
2 Heat source: other 2 14.3%
3 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 1 7.1%
4 Hot ember or ash 1 7.1%
5 Cigarette 1 7.1%
6 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 1 7.1%
04 The biggest fires

2 fires · $55K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cutten departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $45,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
2 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Cutten compares

Cutten vs California vs the nation

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

4.84
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Cutten
4.84
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.6
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Cutten
0.6
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Cutten
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Cutten

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 713,268 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Natural 142,386 46.5 mi
1999 Natural 124,898 46.4 mi
2015 Natural 68,040 36.9 mi
2006 Natural 66,113 45.3 mi
2015 Natural 34,006 36.7 mi
2008 Natural 31,419 45.5 mi
2015 Natural 27,150 38.6 mi
2008 Natural 25,398 37.2 mi
2008 Natural 25,199 41.5 mi
2008 Natural 24,776 44.4 mi
2015 Natural 18,178 45.0 mi
2008 Natural 15,118 32.3 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Cutten do fires concentrate?

Top 1 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 95534 52
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Cutten

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