In 2025, fire departments serving Kailua responded to 108 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5.1M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
598 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $12.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 128 | — | |
| 2022 | 120 | -6.2% | |
| 2023 | 117 | -2.5% | |
| 2024 | 125 | +6.8% | |
| 2025 | 108 | -13.6% |
For the 4 building fires Kailua departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 94 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 24.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 21.3% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 18.1% |
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 Kailua mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 38.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 9 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Candle | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 7.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kailua departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,092,000 | Building fires | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,410 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $750 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kailua sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 34,454 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,000 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,820 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,507 | 25.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,235 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 27.6 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 Hawaii cities with population within ±25% of Kailua. 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.