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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Pleasanton, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Pleasanton responded to 303 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2023 Alameda County 78,691 residents 0 reporting departments 1,581 5-yr
Total incidents
303
-12.4% vs 2024
Building fires
16
Residential 63% Other 37%
Property loss
$642K
$547K structure · $95K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 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 61% of all calls.

303
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 68 22.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 44 14.5%
Carbon monoxide incident 32 10.6%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 22 7.3%
Cooking fire, confined to container 19 6.3%
All other categories 118 38.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 39
Feb 15
Mar 21
Apr 15
May 32
Jun 32
Jul 34
Aug 28
Sep 21
Oct 30
Nov 21
Dec 15
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Pleasanton

1,581 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 271 —
2022 301 +11.1%
2023 360 +19.6%
2024 346 -3.9%
2025 303 -12.4%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 16 building fires Pleasanton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
41%
13
Cause undetermined
22%
7
Intentional / arson
12%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
2
Under investigation
19%
6
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Pleasanton?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 283 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 68 24.0%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 38 13.4%
3 Cooking area, kitchen 19 6.7%
4 Outside area, other 19 6.7%
5 Other 16 5.7%
6 Vehicle area, other 12 4.2%
7 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 8 2.8%
8 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 7 2.5%
9 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 7 2.5%
10 Storage area, other 6 2.1%
11 All other areas 83 29.3%
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 Pleasanton mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 173 61.1%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 29 10.2%
3 Heat source: other 15 5.3%
4 Arcing 14 4.9%
5 Hot or smoldering object, other 12 4.2%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 8 2.8%
7 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 7 2.5%
8 Heat from undetermined smoking material 4 1.4%
9 Heat, spark from friction 3 1.1%
10 Flame/torch used for lighting 3 1.1%
11 All other sources 15 5.3%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $460K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pleasanton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $100,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
2 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $50,000 Building or structure weakened or collapsed Significant Investigated
7 $40,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $20,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Pleasanton compares

Pleasanton vs California vs the nation

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

3.85
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Pleasanton
3.85
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.2
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Pleasanton
0.2
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Pleasanton
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Pleasanton

8 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 0
30-39 1
40-49 4
50-59 0
60-69 2
70-79 1
80+ 0
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 3 FF 5
Gender
M 7 F 1 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
0
1
1
2
1
3
4
4
2
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Pleasanton

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 664,685 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 396,624 24.0 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 86,509 33.7 mi
2007 Recreation and ceremony 47,760 37.9 mi
2006 Equipment and vehicle use 34,271 37.7 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,300 47.8 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,200 18.9 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,817 39.6 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 6,804 28.3 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 14.6 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 5,513 48.7 mi
2003 Natural 5,018 29.5 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,474 38.9 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Pleasanton 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 94566 858
2 94588 655
3 94568 39
4 94586 10
5 94552 8
6 94550 5
7 94551 5
8 84588 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Pleasanton

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