Home› California› Forestville
2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Forestville, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Forestville responded to 48 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C Peak yr 2022 Sonoma County 3,632 residents 0 reporting departments 286 5-yr
Total incidents
48
-26.2% vs 2024
Building fires
6
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$218K
$178K structure · $41K 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 58% of all calls.

48
Total Incidents
Hazardous condition, other 13 27.1%
Building fires 6 12.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 6.2%
Unauthorized burning 3 6.2%
Authorized controlled burning 3 6.2%
All other categories 20 41.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 4
Feb 8
Mar 4
Apr 1
May 0
Jun 6
Jul 0
Aug 2
Sep 6
Oct 7
Nov 8
Dec 2
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Forestville

286 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 28 —
2022 81 —
2023 64 -21.0%
2024 65 +1.6%
2025 48 -26.2%

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

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

Where do fires start in Forestville?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 5 20.8%
2 Cooking area, kitchen 3 12.5%
3 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 2 8.3%
4 Vehicle area, other 2 8.3%
5 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 2 8.3%
6 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 2 8.3%
7 Other 1 4.2%
8 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 1 4.2%
9 Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service 1 4.2%
10 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 1 4.2%
11 All other areas 4 16.7%
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 Forestville mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 16 66.7%
2 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 2 8.3%
3 Heat source: other 1 4.2%
4 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 1 4.2%
5 Hot ember or ash 1 4.2%
6 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 1 4.2%
7 Heat spread from another fire, other 1 4.2%
8 Flying brand, ember, spark 1 4.2%
04 The biggest fires

5 fires · $178K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Forestville departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $150,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
2 $25,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
3 $1,500 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $500 Incinerator overload or malfunction, fire confined Significant Investigated
5 $500 Outside rubbish fire, other Significant Investigated
05 How Forestville compares

Forestville vs California vs the nation

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

13.22
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Forestville
13.22
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
1.65
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Forestville
1.65
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Forestville
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Forestville

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,160,347 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Natural 305,651 29.9 mi
2018 Other causes 90,288 43.6 mi
2019 Power generation/transmission/distribution 76,825 22.7 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 76,067 25.9 mi
2015 Other causes 69,363 36.6 mi
2020 Equipment and vehicle use 67,484 20.0 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 56,556 23.3 mi
2020 Natural 55,209 16.6 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,624 35.5 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 48,920 42.1 mi
1999 Arson/incendiarism 40,000 44.2 mi
2004 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 39,138 44.7 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Forestville do fires concentrate?

Top 2 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 95436 284
2 95492 2
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Forestville

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