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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Firebaugh, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Firebaugh responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2023 Fresno County 8,139 residents 0 reporting departments 289 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Firebaugh's departments reported 26 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 58 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
26
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
6
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$620K
$435K structure · $185K 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 69% of all calls.

26
Total Incidents
Building fires 6 23.1%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 5 19.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 3 11.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 7.7%
Grass fire 2 7.7%
All other categories 8 30.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

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

Year over year in Firebaugh

289 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.0M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 37 —
2022 36 -2.7%
2023 111 +208.3%
2024 79 -28.8%
2025* 26 —

* Well below Firebaugh'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 6 building fires Firebaugh departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
40%
2
Cause undetermined
20%
1
Intentional / arson
20%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
20%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Firebaugh?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 95 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 22 23.2%
2 Outside area, other 16 16.8%
3 Other 11 11.6%
4 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 8 8.4%
5 Vehicle area, other 5 5.3%
6 Cooking area, kitchen 3 3.2%
7 Laundry area, wash house (laundry) 3 3.2%
8 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 3 3.2%
9 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 3 3.2%
10 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 2 2.1%
11 All other areas 19 20.0%
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 Firebaugh mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 58 61.1%
2 Arcing 8 8.4%
3 Hot or smoldering object, other 5 5.3%
4 Heat source: other 4 4.2%
5 Heat from powered equipment, other 2 2.1%
6 Hot ember or ash 2 2.1%
7 Incendiary device 2 2.1%
8 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 2 2.1%
9 Lightning 2 2.1%
10 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 1 1.1%
11 All other sources 9 9.5%
04 The biggest fires

6 fires · $435K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Firebaugh departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $250,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $120,695 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $34,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
4 $20,000 Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant Investigated
5 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $500 Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant Investigated
05 How Firebaugh compares

Firebaugh vs California vs the nation

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

3.19
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Firebaugh
3.19
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.74
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Firebaugh
0.74
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Firebaugh
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Firebaugh

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 132,903 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2006 Equipment and vehicle use 25,000 38.7 mi
1996 Power generation/transmission/distribution 18,340 20.2 mi
1996 Equipment and vehicle use 16,820 16.1 mi
2006 Natural 8,400 27.1 mi
2005 Equipment and vehicle use 5,514 22.8 mi
1993 Equipment and vehicle use 5,500 25.5 mi
1998 Equipment and vehicle use 4,800 21.2 mi
1992 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,800 39.9 mi
2018 Equipment and vehicle use 4,563 34.7 mi
1996 Natural 4,380 24.1 mi
2008 Natural 3,870 40.4 mi
2008 Equipment and vehicle use 3,300 38.0 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Firebaugh 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 93622 283
2 93620 5
3 93640 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Firebaugh

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