In 2025, fire departments serving Kapolei responded to 200 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $125K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,110 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.5M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 224 | — | |
| 2022 | 216 | -3.6% | |
| 2023 | 223 | +3.2% | |
| 2024 | 247 | +10.8% | |
| 2025 | 200 | -19.0% |
For the 7 building fires Kapolei departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 171 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 | 45 | 26.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 23 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 9 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 9 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 24.6% |
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 Kapolei mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 96 | 56.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 3.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kapolei departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 83% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $13,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $12,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kapolei sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 33,954 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 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,820 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 4.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,507 | 5.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,235 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 18.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 7.9 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 Kapolei. 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.