In 2025, fire departments serving Oakland responded to 62 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
400 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 68 | — | |
| 2022 | 91 | +33.8% | |
| 2023 | 102 | +12.1% | |
| 2024 | 77 | -24.5% | |
| 2025 | 62 | -19.5% |
For the 11 building fires Oakland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 145 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 | 29 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 21 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 16 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 24.1% |
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 Oakland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 14.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oakland departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oakland sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,931 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,130 | 34.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,092 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,007 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,005 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 891 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 770 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 636 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 537 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 529 | 27.1 mi |
Top 6 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Oakland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Oakland.
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.