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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Hayward, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Hayward responded to 823 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2025 Alameda County 160,602 residents 0 reporting departments 3,257 5-yr
Total incidents
823
+8.7% vs 2024
Building fires
32
Residential 66% Other 34%
Property loss
$6.7M
$4.5M structure · $2.2M contents
Deaths & injuries
1 / 0
1 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.

823
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish fire, other 186 22.6%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 96 11.7%
Power line down 53 6.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 50 6.1%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 47 5.7%
All other categories 391 47.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 111
Feb 65
Mar 79
Apr 62
May 87
Jun 55
Jul 88
Aug 71
Sep 70
Oct 59
Nov 31
Dec 45
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Hayward

3,257 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $17.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 79 —
2022 802 —
2023 796 -0.7%
2024 757 -4.9%
2025 823 +8.7%

* Well below Hayward'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 32 building fires Hayward departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
26%
47
Cause undetermined
40%
72
Intentional / arson
12%
21
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
9
Under investigation
17%
30
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Hayward?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 825 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 353 42.8%
2 Other 90 10.9%
3 Outside area, other 57 6.9%
4 Cooking area, kitchen 37 4.5%
5 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 36 4.4%
6 Vehicle area, other 25 3.0%
7 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 21 2.5%
8 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 19 2.3%
9 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 18 2.2%
10 Storage area, other 16 1.9%
11 All other areas 153 18.5%
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 Hayward mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 599 72.6%
2 Heat source: other 69 8.4%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 39 4.7%
4 Hot or smoldering object, other 29 3.5%
5 Arcing 23 2.8%
6 Hot ember or ash 13 1.6%
7 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 8 1.0%
8 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 7 0.8%
9 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 7 0.8%
10 Fireworks 5 0.6%
11 All other sources 26 3.2%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $3.0M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hayward departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 66% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,000,000 Outside gas or vapor combustion explosion Major Investigated
2 $500,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $500,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major Investigated
4 $250,000 Building fires Major Investigated
5 $250,000 Building fires Major Investigated
6 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Hayward compares

Hayward vs California vs the nation

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

5.12
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hayward
5.12
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.2
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hayward
0.2
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
6.2
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hayward
6.2
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Hayward

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 653,461 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 31.4 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 86,509 27.0 mi
2007 Recreation and ceremony 47,760 43.1 mi
2006 Equipment and vehicle use 34,271 46.5 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,200 29.5 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,817 34.1 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 6,804 38.7 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 25.4 mi
2003 Natural 5,018 38.3 mi
2020 Natural 4,929 49.4 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,474 38.8 mi
2020 Natural 4,279 43.1 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Hayward 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 94541 1,250
2 94544 1,166
3 94545 638
4 94542 144
5 94546 15
6 94580 13
7 94552 8
8 94540 7
9 94543 4
10 95746 3
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Hayward

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