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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Oceanside, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Oceanside responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A+ Peak yr 2022 San Diego County 173,722 residents 0 reporting departments 1,366 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Oceanside's departments reported 50 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 273 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
50
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
21
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.

50
Total Incidents
Building fires 21 42.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 5 10.0%
Natural vegetation fire, other 4 8.0%
Fire, other 3 6.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 6.0%
All other categories 14 28.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 9
Feb 5
Mar 5
Apr 0
May 1
Jun 1
Jul 9
Aug 4
Sep 4
Oct 2
Nov 6
Dec 4
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Oceanside

1,366 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $179.6M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 307 —
2022 434 +41.4%
2023 300 -30.9%
2024 275 -8.3%
2025* 50 —

* Well below Oceanside'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 21 building fires Oceanside departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Oceanside?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 425 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 Outside area, other 83 19.5%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 78 18.4%
3 Cooking area, kitchen 65 15.3%
4 Undetermined 26 6.1%
5 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 23 5.4%
6 Other 22 5.2%
7 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 18 4.2%
8 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 14 3.3%
9 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 14 3.3%
10 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 13 3.1%
11 All other areas 69 16.2%
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 Oceanside mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 181 42.6%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 37 8.7%
3 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 29 6.8%
4 Hot or smoldering object, other 26 6.1%
5 Arcing 25 5.9%
6 Cigarette lighter 25 5.9%
7 Heat source: other 22 5.2%
8 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 22 5.2%
9 Hot ember or ash 21 4.9%
10 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 18 4.2%
11 All other sources 19 4.5%
05 How Oceanside compares

Oceanside vs California vs the nation

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

0.29
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Oceanside
0.29
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.12
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Oceanside
0.12
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Oceanside
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Oceanside

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,010,754 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 37.5 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 197,990 36.1 mi
2002 Equipment and vehicle use 61,690 43.3 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 56,427 20.7 mi
2007 Other causes 49,390 25.7 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 41.5 mi
2013 Power generation/transmission/distribution 27,531 47.2 mi
1993 Power generation/transmission/distribution 24,387 35.9 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 23,025 33.5 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,384 20.0 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,004 15.8 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 20,768 19.9 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Oceanside do fires concentrate?

Top 10 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 92054 508
2 92056 383
3 92058 238
4 92057 225
5 92055 4
6 92028 3
7 92010 2
8 92008 1
9 92049 1
10 96130 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Oceanside

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