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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Orange, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Orange responded to 268 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A+ Peak yr 2021 Orange County 138,728 residents 0 reporting departments 1,648 5-yr
Total incidents
268
-12.7% vs 2024
Building fires
42
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$6.2M
$4.7M structure · $1.6M contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 1
0 civilian deaths · 1 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 49% of all calls.

268
Total Incidents
Building fires 42 15.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 24 9.0%
Power line down 24 9.0%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 22 8.2%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 19 7.1%
All other categories 137 51.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 46
Feb 21
Mar 24
Apr 32
May 30
Jun 23
Jul 41
Aug 16
Sep 28
Oct 7
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Orange

1,648 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $11.2M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 413 —
2022 404 -2.2%
2023 256 -36.6%
2024 307 +19.9%
2025 268 -12.7%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 42 building fires Orange departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
53%
43
Cause undetermined
23%
19
Intentional / arson
12%
10
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
5
Under investigation
5%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Orange?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 603 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 110 18.2%
2 Undetermined 97 16.1%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 85 14.1%
4 Cooking area, kitchen 53 8.8%
5 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 38 6.3%
6 Other 26 4.3%
7 Vehicle area, other 22 3.6%
8 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 21 3.5%
9 Laundry area, wash house (laundry) 19 3.2%
10 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 18 3.0%
11 All other areas 114 18.9%
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 Orange mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 357 59.2%
2 Heat source: other 39 6.5%
3 Hot or smoldering object, other 37 6.1%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 30 5.0%
5 Arcing 28 4.6%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 26 4.3%
7 Flame/torch used for lighting 16 2.7%
8 Cigarette 14 2.3%
9 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 12 2.0%
10 Chemical reaction 10 1.7%
11 All other sources 34 5.6%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $4.5M in losses

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

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,000,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $1,000,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $1,000,000 Building fires Major Investigated
4 $750,000 Building fires Major Investigated
5 $500,000 Building fires Major Investigated
6 $100,000 Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant Investigated
7 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $50,000 Fire, other Significant Investigated
05 How Orange compares

Orange vs California vs the nation

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

1.93
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Orange
1.93
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.3
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Orange
0.3
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Orange
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Orange

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

Wildfires within 50 mi of Orange

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 843,420 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 36.9 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 31.7 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 91,281 41.4 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 31.9 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 29.5 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,274 37.8 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 6.7 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 9.8 mi
1993 Power generation/transmission/distribution 24,387 47.0 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 23,025 19.7 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 22,000 32.0 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,384 29.9 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Orange 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 92868 592
2 92867 364
3 92865 187
4 92869 172
5 92866 100
6 92863 4
7 32869 1
8 92661 1
9 92667 1
10 92702 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Orange

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