In 2025, fire departments serving Hesperia responded to 90 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 81% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
434 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 83 | — | |
| 2022* | 52 | — | |
| 2023 | 96 | — | |
| 2024 | 113 | +17.7% | |
| 2025 | 90 | -20.4% |
* Well below Hesperia'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.
For the 25 building fires Hesperia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 71 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 | Other | 42 | 59.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 7.0% |
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 Hesperia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 42 | 59.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 18 | 25.4% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hesperia departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hesperia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,365 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 910 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 764 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 16.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 200 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 152 | 33.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 9.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 133 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 118 | 31.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 106 | 5.4 mi |
Top 9 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Hesperia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hesperia.
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.