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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Lemon Grove, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Lemon Grove responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A+ Peak yr 2021 San Diego County 27,482 residents 0 reporting departments 304 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Lemon Grove's departments reported 19 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 61 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
19
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
1
Residential 0% Other 100%
Property loss
$89K
$78K structure · $11K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.

19
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish fire, other 8 42.1%
Fire, other 1 5.3%
Building fires 1 5.3%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 1 5.3%
Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence 1 5.3%
All other categories 7 36.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Feb peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 2
Feb 10
Mar 1
Apr 1
May 3
Jun 0
Jul 1
Aug 0
Sep 1
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Lemon Grove

304 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.1M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 111 —
2022 111 +0.0%
2023 43 -61.3%
2024* 20 —
2025* 19 —

* Well below Lemon Grove'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 Lemon Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
20%
1
Cause undetermined
40%
2
Intentional / arson
20%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
20%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Lemon Grove?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 82 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 30 36.6%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 18 22.0%
3 Outside area, other 12 14.6%
4 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 6 7.3%
5 Cooking area, kitchen 4 4.9%
6 Vehicle area, other 4 4.9%
7 Other 2 2.4%
8 Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace 2 2.4%
9 Function area, other 1 1.2%
10 Structural area, other 1 1.2%
11 All other areas 2 2.4%
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 Lemon Grove mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 58 70.7%
2 Hot or smoldering object, other 4 4.9%
3 Heat source: other 3 3.7%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 3 3.7%
5 Cigarette 3 3.7%
6 Candle 3 3.7%
7 Arcing 2 2.4%
8 Cigarette lighter 2 2.4%
9 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 1 1.2%
10 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 1 1.2%
11 All other sources 2 2.4%
04 The biggest fires

3 fires · $78K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lemon Grove departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $75,000 Fire, other Significant Investigated
2 $2,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
3 $1,000 Outside rubbish fire, other Significant Investigated
05 How Lemon Grove compares

Lemon Grove vs California vs the nation

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

0.69
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lemon Grove
0.69
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.04
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lemon Grove
0.04
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lemon Grove
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Lemon Grove

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 980,559 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2003 Recreation and ceremony 280,059 24.9 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 197,990 30.1 mi
2007 Recreation and ceremony 90,440 27.9 mi
2002 Equipment and vehicle use 61,690 37.0 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 56,427 36.4 mi
2007 Other causes 49,390 38.8 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 47,921 19.3 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 20,768 29.6 mi
2006 Recreation and ceremony 16,677 21.3 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 16,390 19.9 mi
1996 Recreation and ceremony 14,720 12.7 mi
2011 Arson/incendiarism 14,100 47.6 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Lemon Grove 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 91945 276
2 92123 23
3 91977 4
4 91941 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Lemon Grove

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Lemon Grove. 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.