In 2025, fire departments serving Hayward responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
396 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 90 | — | |
| 2022 | 96 | +6.7% | |
| 2023 | 76 | -20.8% | |
| 2024 | 71 | -6.6% | |
| 2025 | 63 | -11.3% |
For the 16 building fires Hayward departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 57 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 origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 21.1% |
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 source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 28 | 49.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 9 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Incendiary device | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hayward departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hayward sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,009 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | 7,499 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,167 | 21.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 258 | 41.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 240 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 171 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 170 | 20.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 140 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 120 | 9.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 49.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 100 | 6.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 85 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 79 | 37.6 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Hayward. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hayward.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
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.