Home› California› Laytonville
2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Laytonville, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Laytonville responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C+ Peak yr 2024 Mendocino County 552 residents 0 reporting departments 56 5-yr
Total incidents
15
-11.8% vs 2024
Building fires
1
Residential 0% Other 100%
Property loss
$17K
$15K structure · $2K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.

15
Total Incidents
Forest, woods or wildland fire 6 40.0%
Grass fire 2 13.3%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 2 13.3%
Building fires 1 6.7%
Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle 1 6.7%
All other categories 3 20.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 0
Feb 0
Mar 0
Apr 1
May 0
Jun 1
Jul 6
Aug 3
Sep 1
Oct 3
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Laytonville

56 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $131K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 7 —
2022 12 +71.4%
2023* 5 —
2024 17 —
2025 15 -11.8%

* Well below Laytonville'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 1 building fires Laytonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
100%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Laytonville?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 4 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 Outside area, other 3 75.0%
2 Undetermined 1 25.0%
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 Laytonville mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Heat source: other 1 25.0%
2 Hot ember or ash 1 25.0%
3 Cigarette lighter 1 25.0%
4 Undetermined 1 25.0%
04 The biggest fires

2 fires · $15K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Laytonville departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $15,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
2 $150 Grass fire Significant Investigated
05 How Laytonville compares

Laytonville vs California vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Laytonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

27.17
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Laytonville
27.17
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
1.81
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Laytonville
1.81
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Laytonville
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Laytonville

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,874,473 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Natural 589,368 44.1 mi
2018 Equipment and vehicle use 410,203 36.3 mi
2020 Natural 328,363 38.5 mi
1996 Arson/incendiarism 83,323 42.0 mi
2020 Natural 51,576 49.9 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 48,920 46.3 mi
2012 Natural 41,983 23.6 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,523 34.1 mi
2008 Natural 32,903 46.7 mi
2008 Natural 32,250 35.0 mi
2012 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 29,502 48.6 mi
2020 Natural 26,196 36.0 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Laytonville do fires concentrate?

Top 4 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 95454 51
2 95417 2
3 95490 2
4 95585 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Laytonville

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Laytonville. 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.