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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Ontario, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Ontario responded to 1,031 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $585K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B+ Peak yr 2021 San Bernardino County 176,326 residents 0 reporting departments 5,746 5-yr
Total incidents
1,031
-10.7% vs 2024
Building fires
49
Residential 65% Other 35%
Property loss
$862K
$806K structure · $56K contents
Deaths & injuries
1 / 5
1 civilian deaths · 4 civ injuries · 1 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.

1,031
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 191 18.5%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 105 10.2%
Chemical hazard (no spill or leak) 71 6.9%
Passenger vehicle fire 70 6.8%
Cooking fire, confined to container 64 6.2%
All other categories 530 51.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 143
Feb 69
Mar 81
Apr 68
May 90
Jun 77
Jul 96
Aug 93
Sep 75
Oct 100
Nov 71
Dec 68
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Ontario

5,746 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.0M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 1,293 —
2022 1,173 -9.3%
2023 1,094 -6.7%
2024 1,155 +5.6%
2025 1,031 -10.7%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 49 building fires Ontario departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
34%
89
Cause undetermined
25%
66
Intentional / arson
12%
31
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
15
Under investigation
12%
30
Act of nature (lightning)
11%
10
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Ontario?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,646 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 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 350 21.3%
2 Undetermined 290 17.6%
3 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 98 6.0%
4 Outside area, other 97 5.9%
5 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 71 4.3%
6 Cooking area, kitchen 69 4.2%
7 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 66 4.0%
8 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 64 3.9%
9 Vehicle area, other 49 3.0%
10 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 47 2.9%
11 All other areas 445 27.0%
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 Ontario mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 945 57.4%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 128 7.8%
3 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 90 5.5%
4 Cigarette lighter 65 3.9%
5 Arcing 56 3.4%
6 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 39 2.4%
7 Radiated heat from another fire 39 2.4%
8 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 37 2.2%
9 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 32 1.9%
10 Chemical reaction 29 1.8%
11 All other sources 186 11.3%
04 The biggest fires

6 fires · $806K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ontario departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $585,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $10,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
5 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $500 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Ontario compares

Ontario vs California vs the nation

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

5.85
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Ontario
5.85
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.28
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Ontario
0.28
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
5.7
Civilian fire deaths per million
Ontario
5.7
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Ontario

66 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.

AgeCount 
0-9 6
10-19 0
20-29 8
30-39 22
40-49 18
50-59 4
60-69 3
70-79 4
80+ 1
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 26 FF 40
Gender
M 52 F 14 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
31
1
9
2
16
3
6
4
3
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Ontario

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,019,450 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 36.1 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 24.8 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 91,281 21.8 mi
1999 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 65,000 31.2 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 11.4 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,000 41.2 mi
2006 Arson/incendiarism 40,200 49.1 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 16.8 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,274 17.5 mi
2020 Equipment and vehicle use 33,424 37.0 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 13.8 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 20.6 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Ontario 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 91761 2,210
2 91762 2,167
3 91764 1,353
4 91739 9
5 91710 2
6 91730 1
7 91752 1
8 92324 1
9 92346 1
10 92394 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Ontario

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