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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Felton, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Felton responded to 57 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C Peak yr 2023 Santa Cruz County 3,701 residents 0 reporting departments 537 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Felton's departments reported 57 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 107 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
57
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
4
Residential 50% Other 50%
Property loss
$21K
$20K structure · $500 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.

57
Total Incidents
Power line down 15 26.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 9 15.8%
Building fires 4 7.0%
Passenger vehicle fire 4 7.0%
Hazardous condition, other 4 7.0%
All other categories 21 36.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 10
Feb 9
Mar 13
Apr 7
May 7
Jun 4
Jul 2
Aug 1
Sep 2
Oct 0
Nov 1
Dec 1
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Felton

537 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $803K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 126 —
2022 78 -38.1%
2023 174 +123.1%
2024 102 -41.4%
2025* 57 —

* Well below Felton'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 4 building fires Felton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
17%
1
Cause undetermined
17%
1
Intentional / arson
33%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
33%
2
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Felton?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 61 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 18 29.5%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 5 8.2%
3 Wildland, woods 5 8.2%
4 Undetermined 5 8.2%
5 Cooking area, kitchen 4 6.6%
6 Other 2 3.3%
7 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 2 3.3%
8 Vehicle area, other 2 3.3%
9 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 2 3.3%
10 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 2 3.3%
11 All other areas 14 23.0%
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 Felton mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 16 26.2%
2 Heat source: other 10 16.4%
3 Hot ember or ash 8 13.1%
4 Arcing 6 9.8%
5 Heat from powered equipment, other 5 8.2%
6 Hot or smoldering object, other 5 8.2%
7 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 2 3.3%
8 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 2 3.3%
9 Molten, hot material 1 1.6%
10 Incendiary device 1 1.6%
11 All other sources 5 8.2%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $20K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Felton departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $20,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Felton compares

Felton vs California vs the nation

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

15.4
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Felton
15.4
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
1.08
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Felton
1.08
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Felton
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Felton

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 810,249 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 396,624 38.8 mi
2016 Recreation and ceremony 132,127 41.2 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 86,509 16.9 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 48,088 40.9 mi
2007 Recreation and ceremony 47,760 34.0 mi
2003 Natural 30,170 32.2 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,817 9.6 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 6,905 46.5 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 49.9 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 5,513 31.3 mi
2003 Natural 5,018 46.2 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,474 14.2 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Felton 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 95018 523
2 95005 11
3 95060 2
4 95033 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Felton

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