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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Oakdale, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Oakdale responded to 132 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2024 Stanislaus County 23,120 residents 0 reporting departments 835 5-yr
Total incidents
132
-34.0% vs 2024
Building fires
8
Residential 63% Other 37%
Property loss
$566K
$494K structure · $72K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 1
0 civilian deaths · 1 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.

132
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 19 14.4%
Grass fire 16 12.1%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 9 6.8%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 9 6.8%
Building fires 8 6.1%
All other categories 71 53.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 12
Feb 12
Mar 18
Apr 9
May 22
Jun 26
Jul 26
Aug 5
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 2
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Oakdale

835 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.4M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 126 —
2022 191 +51.6%
2023 186 -2.6%
2024 200 +7.5%
2025 132 -34.0%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 8 building fires Oakdale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
38%
6
Cause undetermined
31%
5
Intentional / arson
6%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
2
Under investigation
12%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Oakdale?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 155 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 49 31.6%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 15 9.7%
3 Other 7 4.5%
4 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 6 3.9%
5 Cooking area, kitchen 6 3.9%
6 Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room 6 3.9%
7 Laundry area, wash house (laundry) 6 3.9%
8 Wall surface: exterior 6 3.9%
9 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 5 3.2%
10 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 5 3.2%
11 All other areas 44 28.4%
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 Oakdale mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 100 64.5%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 13 8.4%
3 Arcing 6 3.9%
4 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 5 3.2%
5 Hot or smoldering object, other 5 3.2%
6 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 4 2.6%
7 Radiated heat from another fire 4 2.6%
8 Heat source: other 3 1.9%
9 Hot ember or ash 3 1.9%
10 Cigarette 2 1.3%
11 All other sources 10 6.5%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $470K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oakdale departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $250,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $75,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
3 $60,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
4 $25,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $20,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $20,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
7 $10,000 Special outside fire, other Significant Investigated
8 $10,000 Natural vegetation fire, other Significant Investigated
05 How Oakdale compares

Oakdale vs California vs the nation

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

5.71
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Oakdale
5.71
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.35
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Oakdale
0.35
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Oakdale
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Oakdale

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,071,535 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 396,624 45.9 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 255,858 42.2 mi
2017 Firearms and explosives use 81,826 35.9 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 70,868 41.0 mi
2006 Equipment and vehicle use 34,271 34.5 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 34,091 48.4 mi
2006 Equipment and vehicle use 25,000 28.1 mi
1996 Natural 22,080 40.0 mi
1992 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 18,000 31.0 mi
2001 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 14,280 36.7 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,300 13.9 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,200 38.8 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Oakdale do fires concentrate?

Top 2 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 95361 829
2 95320 6
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Oakdale

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