In 2025, fire departments serving Hilo responded to 239 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $499K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Trash or rubbish fire, contained lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,118 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 185 | — | |
| 2022 | 228 | +23.2% | |
| 2023 | 253 | +11.0% | |
| 2024 | 213 | -15.8% | |
| 2025 | 239 | +12.2% |
For the 9 building fires Hilo departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 283 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 | 94 | 33.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 33 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 25 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 20 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 50 | 17.7% |
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 Hilo mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 207 | 73.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 15 | 5.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Match | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 3 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 6.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hilo departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $498,500 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,900 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hilo sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 118,151 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,000 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18,000 | 42.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,000 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,138 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 4,930 | 27.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,700 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,572 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 3,407 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,640 | 49.1 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Hawaii cities with population within ±25% of Hilo. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.