In 2025, fire departments serving Pahoa responded to 173 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $280K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,045 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 270 | — | |
| 2022 | 214 | -20.7% | |
| 2023 | 186 | -13.1% | |
| 2024 | 202 | +8.6% | |
| 2025 | 173 | -14.4% |
For the 10 building fires Pahoa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 399 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 | Undetermined | 325 | 81.5% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 2.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 8 | 2.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 6 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 1.0% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 4.5% |
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 Pahoa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 362 | 90.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 1.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 1.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 1.0% | |
| 6 | Candle | 3 | 0.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 0.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 0.5% | |
| 9 | Incendiary device | 2 | 0.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 0.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 1.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pahoa departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $280,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $262,500 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pahoa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 41,824 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 4,930 | 18.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,700 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,572 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 3,407 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 35.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 4.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 2,076 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 2,019 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,824 | 30.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,566 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,400 | 34.2 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Hawaii cities with population within ±25% of Pahoa. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.