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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Palmdale, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Palmdale responded to 367 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $650K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2024 Los Angeles County 166,895 residents 0 reporting departments 2,226 5-yr
Total incidents
367
-43.9% vs 2024
Building fires
31
Residential 65% Other 35%
Property loss
$3.7M
$3.0M structure · $718K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.

367
Total Incidents
Fire, other 53 14.4%
Outside rubbish fire, other 52 14.2%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 45 12.3%
Grass fire 36 9.8%
Building fires 31 8.4%
All other categories 150 40.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 35
Feb 35
Mar 17
Apr 33
May 29
Jun 36
Jul 42
Aug 38
Sep 30
Oct 18
Nov 21
Dec 33
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Palmdale

2,226 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $13.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 445 —
2022 310 -30.3%
2023 450 +45.2%
2024 654 +45.3%
2025 367 -43.9%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 31 building fires Palmdale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
55%
68
Cause undetermined
4%
5
Intentional / arson
27%
33
Equipment / heat source failure
10%
12
Under investigation
4%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Palmdale?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 612 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 156 25.5%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 87 14.2%
3 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 38 6.2%
4 Outside area, other 36 5.9%
5 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 33 5.4%
6 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 30 4.9%
7 Other 28 4.6%
8 Vehicle area, other 28 4.6%
9 Cooking area, kitchen 21 3.4%
10 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 17 2.8%
11 All other areas 138 22.5%
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 Palmdale mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 238 38.9%
2 Arcing 76 12.4%
3 Heat source: other 66 10.8%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 63 10.3%
5 Hot or smoldering object, other 44 7.2%
6 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 15 2.5%
7 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 13 2.1%
8 Hot ember or ash 12 2.0%
9 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 9 1.5%
10 Cigarette 9 1.5%
11 All other sources 67 10.9%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $2.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Palmdale departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 72% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $650,000 Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Major Investigated
2 $350,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $250,000 Building fires Major Investigated
4 $244,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Palmdale compares

Palmdale vs California vs the nation

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

2.2
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Palmdale
2.2
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.19
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Palmdale
0.19
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Palmdale
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Palmdale

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

Wildfires within 50 mi of Palmdale

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,274,374 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2006 Debris and open burning 162,702 37.8 mi
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 24.8 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 25.3 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 35.1 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 41.8 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 37.9 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 46.2 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 45,300 33.7 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 20.7 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 13.9 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 31.0 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,274 43.2 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Palmdale do fires concentrate?

Top 8 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 93550 1,209
2 93551 603
3 93552 355
4 93591 29
5 93536 14
6 93535 8
7 93534 4
8 93543 4
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Palmdale

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