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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Huntington Beach, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Huntington Beach responded to 462 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2021 Orange County 197,481 residents 0 reporting departments 3,052 5-yr
Total incidents
462
-19.2% vs 2024
Building fires
53
Residential 66% Other 34%
Property loss
$2.3M
$1.8M structure · $468K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.

462
Total Incidents
Building fires 53 11.5%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 44 9.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 43 9.3%
Power line down 42 9.1%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 38 8.2%
All other categories 242 52.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 55
Feb 36
Mar 43
Apr 36
May 35
Jun 38
Jul 53
Aug 42
Sep 41
Oct 43
Nov 37
Dec 3
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Huntington Beach

3,052 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $22.8M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 685 —
2022 658 -3.9%
2023 675 +2.6%
2024 572 -15.3%
2025 462 -19.2%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 53 building fires Huntington Beach departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
47%
33
Cause undetermined
11%
8
Intentional / arson
7%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
17%
12
Under investigation
13%
9
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
3
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Huntington Beach?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 772 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 116 15.0%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 80 10.4%
3 Outside area, other 72 9.3%
4 Cooking area, kitchen 56 7.3%
5 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 50 6.5%
6 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 47 6.1%
7 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 41 5.3%
8 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 37 4.8%
9 Other 30 3.9%
10 Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace 24 3.1%
11 All other areas 219 28.4%
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 Huntington Beach mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 384 49.7%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 67 8.7%
3 Arcing 57 7.4%
4 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 30 3.9%
5 Heat source: other 28 3.6%
6 Fireworks 27 3.5%
7 Hot ember or ash 26 3.4%
8 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 23 3.0%
9 Hot or smoldering object, other 21 2.7%
10 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 14 1.8%
11 All other sources 95 12.3%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $1.6M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Huntington Beach departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 85% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $400,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $400,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $300,000 Building fires Major Investigated
4 $150,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $150,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
6 $100,000 Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire Significant Investigated
7 $40,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
8 $30,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Huntington Beach compares

Huntington Beach vs California vs the nation

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

2.34
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Huntington Beach
2.34
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.27
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Huntington Beach
0.27
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Huntington Beach
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Huntington Beach

17 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.

AgeCount 
0-9 1
10-19 0
20-29 1
30-39 8
40-49 0
50-59 1
60-69 2
70-79 1
80+ 3
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 17 FF 0
Gender
M 11 F 6 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
9
1
4
2
1
3
0
4
3
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Huntington Beach

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 739,869 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 39.3 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 38.2 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 44.2 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 38.9 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,274 49.9 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 19.4 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 19.6 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 23,025 28.0 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 22,000 44.6 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,384 33.4 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,004 35.8 mi
2002 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 20,857 40.6 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Huntington Beach 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 92647 867
2 92648 853
3 92646 762
4 92649 409
5 90742 2
6 92603 2
7 92626 2
8 92704 1
9 92707 1
10 92740 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Huntington Beach

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Huntington Beach. 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.