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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in El Segundo, California

In 2025, fire departments serving El Segundo responded to 118 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2025 Los Angeles County 17,081 residents 0 reporting departments 243 5-yr
Total incidents
118
+61.6% vs 2024
Building fires
9
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$16.5M
$11.3M structure · $5.2M contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.

118
Total Incidents
Hazardous condition, other 26 22.0%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 24 20.3%
Building fires 9 7.6%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 8 6.8%
Power line down 8 6.8%
All other categories 43 36.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 12
Feb 7
Mar 20
Apr 10
May 10
Jun 7
Jul 13
Aug 18
Sep 9
Oct 12
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in El Segundo

243 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $11.7M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 6 —
2022* 25 —
2023* 21 —
2024 73 —
2025 118 +61.6%

* Well below El Segundo'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 9 building fires El Segundo departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
33%
6
Cause undetermined
17%
3
Intentional / arson
6%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
28%
5
Under investigation
17%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in El Segundo?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 8 19.0%
2 Outside area, other 6 14.3%
3 Vehicle area, other 4 9.5%
4 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 4 9.5%
5 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 3 7.1%
6 Cooking area, kitchen 2 4.8%
7 Office 2 4.8%
8 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 2 4.8%
9 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 1 2.4%
10 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 1 2.4%
11 All other areas 9 21.4%
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 El Segundo mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 22 52.4%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 5 11.9%
3 Arcing 5 11.9%
4 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 2 4.8%
5 Hot or smoldering object, other 2 4.8%
6 Heat, spark from friction 1 2.4%
7 Fireworks 1 2.4%
8 Cigarette 1 2.4%
9 Flame/torch used for lighting 1 2.4%
10 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 1 2.4%
11 All other sources 1 2.4%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $11.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by El Segundo departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $10,000,000 Fires in structures other than in a building Catastrophic Investigated
2 $1,000,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $250,000 Building fires Major Investigated
4 $40,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
5 $19,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
6 $15,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
7 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $100 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How El Segundo compares

El Segundo vs California vs the nation

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

6.91
Incidents per 1,000 residents
El Segundo
6.91
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.53
Building fires per 1,000 residents
El Segundo
0.53
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
El Segundo
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of El Segundo

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,086,991 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 25.6 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 34.1 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 35.7 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 28.1 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 44.4 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 45,300 48.4 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 35.3 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 42.1 mi
1993 Arson/incendiarism 38,152 31.8 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 41.3 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 38.1 mi
2013 Power generation/transmission/distribution 30,274 46.8 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in El Segundo 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 90245 239
2 90250 1
3 90254 1
4 90266 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to El Segundo

Six California cities with population within ±25% of El Segundo. 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.