In 2025, fire departments serving Koloa responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
37 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $306K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023 | 9 | — | |
| 2024 | 6 | -33.3% | |
| 2025 | 17 | +183.3% |
* Well below Koloa'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 0 building fires Koloa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Office | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Koloa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 63.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Candle | 1 | 9.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Koloa sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,282 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,150 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 652 | 8.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 12.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 12.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 220 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 2.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 2.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 9.9 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 Koloa. 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.