Dome Fire Reaches 6,632 Acres in Yosemite, 40% Contained as of Oct. 3
The Dome Fire has burned 6,632 acres in Yosemite National Park and is 40% contained as of Oct. 3, with 765 personnel assigned; Glacier Point Road stays closed.
CA
In 2025, fire departments serving Merced responded to 1,428 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.4M 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 66% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
6,656 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $21.0M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,445 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,196 | -17.2% | |
| 2023 | 1,215 | +1.6% | |
| 2024 | 1,372 | +12.9% | |
| 2025 | 1,428 | +4.1% |
For the 58 building fires Merced departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2,235 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 488 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 430 | 19.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 346 | 15.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 140 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 129 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 92 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 74 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 60 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 49 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 39 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 388 | 17.4% |
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 Merced mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 1,685 | 75.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 64 | 2.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 54 | 2.4% | |
| 4 | Fireworks | 53 | 2.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 52 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 48 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 32 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 32 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 26 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 26 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 163 | 7.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Merced departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 68% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,393,856 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $360,678 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $209,407 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $121,254 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Merced sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
136 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 33 | |
| 30-39 | 51 | |
| 40-49 | 37 | |
| 50-59 | 6 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 697,444 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 255,858 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 96,953 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Firearms and explosives use | 81,826 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 34,271 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 34,091 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25,000 | 10.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 22,080 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 18,340 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 16,820 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 12,407 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,300 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 11,185 | 32.9 mi |
Top 8 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six California cities with population within ±25% of Merced. 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.