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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Del Mar, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Del Mar responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B+ Peak yr 2022 San Diego County 3,956 residents 0 reporting departments 121 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Del Mar's departments reported 12 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 24 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
12
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
0
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 92% of all calls.

12
Total Incidents
Cooking fire, confined to container 3 25.0%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 3 25.0%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 2 16.7%
Carbon monoxide incident 2 16.7%
Outside equipment fire 1 8.3%
All other categories 1 8.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

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

Year over year in Del Mar

121 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 29 —
2022 36 +24.1%
2023 17 -52.8%
2024 27 +58.8%
2025* 12 —

* Well below Del Mar'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 0 building fires Del Mar departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
0%
0
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
100%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Del Mar?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 Outside area, other 4 21.1%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 2 10.5%
3 Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace 2 10.5%
4 Undetermined 2 10.5%
5 Other 1 5.3%
6 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 1 5.3%
7 Cooking area, kitchen 1 5.3%
8 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 1 5.3%
9 Structural area, other 1 5.3%
10 Roof surface: exterior 1 5.3%
11 All other areas 3 15.8%
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 Del Mar mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 7 36.8%
2 Arcing 4 21.1%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 2 10.5%
4 Chemical reaction 2 10.5%
5 Hot ember or ash 1 5.3%
6 Cigarette lighter 1 5.3%
7 Flame/torch used for lighting 1 5.3%
8 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 1 5.3%
05 How Del Mar compares

Del Mar vs California vs the nation

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

3.03
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Del Mar
3.03
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Del Mar
0
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Del Mar
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Del Mar

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,031,066 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2003 Recreation and ceremony 280,059 31.0 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 197,990 32.8 mi
2007 Recreation and ceremony 90,440 46.7 mi
2002 Equipment and vehicle use 61,690 41.0 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 56,427 27.0 mi
2007 Other causes 49,390 31.5 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 47,921 39.7 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,384 37.5 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,004 32.1 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 20,768 21.5 mi
2003 Natural 19,575 44.1 mi
2006 Recreation and ceremony 16,677 37.3 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Del Mar 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 92014 119
2 92075 1
3 92123 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Del Mar

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Del Mar. 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.