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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Riverside, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Riverside responded to 1,936 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 B+ Peak yr 2022 Riverside County 316,076 residents 0 reporting departments 9,381 5-yr
Total incidents
1,936
+11.1% vs 2024
Building fires
101
Residential 66% Other 34%
Property loss
$14.0M
$9.7M structure · $4.4M contents
Deaths & injuries
1 / 18
1 civilian deaths · 11 civ injuries · 7 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 48% of all calls.

1,936
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 376 19.4%
Passenger vehicle fire 164 8.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 154 8.0%
Cooking fire, confined to container 121 6.2%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 116 6.0%
All other categories 1,005 51.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 282
Feb 149
Mar 165
Apr 159
May 140
Jun 159
Jul 152
Aug 159
Sep 140
Oct 165
Nov 134
Dec 132
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Riverside

9,381 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $87.4M cumulative property loss. 9 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 1,968 —
2022 1,991 +1.2%
2023 1,744 -12.4%
2024 1,742 -0.1%
2025 1,936 +11.1%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 101 building fires Riverside departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
27%
99
Cause undetermined
24%
85
Intentional / arson
10%
37
Equipment / heat source failure
31%
112
Under investigation
4%
13
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Riverside?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2,182 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 500 22.9%
2 Outside area, other 397 18.2%
3 Cooking area, kitchen 125 5.7%
4 Undetermined 116 5.3%
5 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 78 3.6%
6 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 72 3.3%
7 Vehicle area, other 66 3.0%
8 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 65 3.0%
9 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 61 2.8%
10 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 54 2.5%
11 All other areas 648 29.7%
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 Riverside mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 873 40.0%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 259 11.9%
3 Arcing 159 7.3%
4 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 149 6.8%
5 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 122 5.6%
6 Cigarette lighter 92 4.2%
7 Hot or smoldering object, other 86 3.9%
8 Heat source: other 78 3.6%
9 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 48 2.2%
10 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 45 2.1%
11 All other sources 271 12.4%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $3.8M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Riverside departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 39% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,000,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $800,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $500,000 Building fires Major Investigated
4 $350,000 Building fires Major Investigated
5 $300,000 Building fires Major Investigated
6 $300,000 Building fires Major Investigated
7 $260,000 Outside storage fire Major Investigated
8 $250,000 Building fires Major Investigated
05 How Riverside compares

Riverside vs California vs the nation

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

6.13
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Riverside
6.13
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.32
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Riverside
0.32
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
3.2
Civilian fire deaths per million
Riverside
3.2
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Riverside

117 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 2
20-29 12
30-39 29
40-49 13
50-59 14
60-69 7
70-79 4
80+ 1
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 77 FF 40
Gender
M 85 F 32 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
65
1
17
2
13
3
13
4
9
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Riverside

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 902,474 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 115,997 38.7 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 91,281 19.1 mi
1999 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 65,000 27.2 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 16.7 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,000 32.1 mi
2006 Arson/incendiarism 40,200 36.2 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 30.2 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,274 22.7 mi
2020 Equipment and vehicle use 33,424 25.0 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 20.2 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 20.5 mi
1998 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,164 30.4 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Riverside 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 92501 6,976
2 92507 729
3 92503 583
4 92504 340
5 92505 256
6 92506 250
7 92518 98
8 92508 95
9 92509 18
10 92557 14
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Riverside

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