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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Oakley, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Oakley responded to 161 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A+ Peak yr 2024 Contra Costa County 43,525 residents 0 reporting departments 654 5-yr
Total incidents
161
-12.0% vs 2024
Building fires
6
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$550K
$488K structure · $62K 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 58% of all calls.

161
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish fire, other 30 18.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 21 13.0%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 20 12.4%
Passenger vehicle fire 11 6.8%
Hazardous condition, other 11 6.8%
All other categories 68 42.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 16
Feb 9
Mar 9
Apr 15
May 14
Jun 19
Jul 28
Aug 15
Sep 14
Oct 13
Nov 7
Dec 2
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Oakley

654 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.6M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 25 —
2022 123 —
2023 162 +31.7%
2024 183 +13.0%
2025 161 -12.0%

* Well below Oakley'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 6 building fires Oakley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
37%
13
Cause undetermined
40%
14
Intentional / arson
3%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
5
Under investigation
6%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Oakley?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 135 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 45 33.3%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 14 10.4%
3 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 9 6.7%
4 Outside area, other 9 6.7%
5 Cooking area, kitchen 8 5.9%
6 Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace 5 3.7%
7 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 4 3.0%
8 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 4 3.0%
9 Exterior, exposed surface 4 3.0%
10 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 4 3.0%
11 All other areas 29 21.5%
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 Oakley mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 88 65.2%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 14 10.4%
3 Arcing 12 8.9%
4 Hot ember or ash 3 2.2%
5 Heat source: other 2 1.5%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 2 1.5%
7 Heat from undetermined smoking material 2 1.5%
8 Cigarette lighter 2 1.5%
9 Chemical reaction 2 1.5%
10 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 1 0.7%
11 All other sources 7 5.2%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $465K in losses

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

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $150,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
2 $75,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
3 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $50,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
5 $50,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
6 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $30,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Oakley compares

Oakley vs California vs the nation

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

3.7
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Oakley
3.7
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.14
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Oakley
0.14
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Oakley
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Oakley

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 912,376 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 39.9 mi
2020 Natural 305,651 49.6 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,624 40.6 mi
2006 Equipment and vehicle use 34,271 46.8 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,300 45.9 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,200 26.4 mi
2018 Equipment and vehicle use 11,789 41.0 mi
1996 Arson/incendiarism 9,820 50.0 mi
2015 Equipment and vehicle use 8,051 42.0 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 6,804 32.3 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 23.6 mi
2014 Fireworks 6,488 42.2 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Oakley do fires concentrate?

Top 3 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 94561 7
2 94511 3
3 90780 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Oakley

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