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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Glendale, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Glendale responded to 684 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 A+ Peak yr 2023 Los Angeles County 194,512 residents 0 reporting departments 3,008 5-yr
Total incidents
684
-3.7% vs 2024
Building fires
16
Residential 63% Other 37%
Property loss
$262K
$200K structure · $62K 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 67% of all calls.

684
Total Incidents
Hazardous condition, other 190 27.8%
Power line down 88 12.9%
Carbon monoxide incident 85 12.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 54 7.9%
Unauthorized burning 41 6.0%
All other categories 226 33.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 191
Feb 51
Mar 57
Apr 44
May 69
Jun 48
Jul 60
Aug 62
Sep 58
Oct 41
Nov 3
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Glendale

3,008 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $13.0M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 224 —
2022 649 —
2023 741 +14.2%
2024 710 -4.2%
2025 684 -3.7%

* Well below Glendale'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 16 building fires Glendale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
36%
34
Cause undetermined
44%
41
Intentional / arson
4%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
6
Under investigation
7%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
2
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Glendale?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 577 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 Cooking area, kitchen 81 14.0%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 79 13.7%
3 Undetermined 79 13.7%
4 Outside area, other 72 12.5%
5 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 26 4.5%
6 Vehicle area, other 21 3.6%
7 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 20 3.5%
8 Other 19 3.3%
9 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 16 2.8%
10 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 14 2.4%
11 All other areas 150 26.0%
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 Glendale mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 316 54.8%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 64 11.1%
3 Heat source: other 44 7.6%
4 Arcing 33 5.7%
5 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 23 4.0%
6 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 20 3.5%
7 Hot or smoldering object, other 13 2.3%
8 Cigarette 12 2.1%
9 Heat from undetermined smoking material 8 1.4%
10 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 8 1.4%
11 All other sources 36 6.2%
04 The biggest fires

5 fires · $200K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Glendale 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 $20,000 Fire, other Significant Investigated
3 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $10,000 Special outside fire, other Significant Investigated
5 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Glendale compares

Glendale vs California vs the nation

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

3.52
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Glendale
3.52
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.08
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Glendale
0.08
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Glendale
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Glendale

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,577,937 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 281,893 49.4 mi
2006 Debris and open burning 162,702 43.1 mi
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 5.3 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 17.1 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 27.8 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 26.2 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 36.0 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 43.8 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 45,300 37.3 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 19.3 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 24.2 mi
1993 Arson/incendiarism 38,152 35.5 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Glendale do fires concentrate?

Top 10 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 91206 658
2 91205 458
3 91201 378
4 91208 281
5 91204 276
6 91202 263
7 91214 258
8 91203 220
9 91207 131
10 91020 38
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Glendale

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