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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in San Clemente, California

In 2025, fire departments serving San Clemente responded to 100 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A+ Peak yr 2024 Orange County 64,232 residents 1 reporting departments 588 5-yr
Total incidents
100
-23.7% vs 2024
Building fires
9
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$1.3M
$915K structure · $366K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.

100
Total Incidents
Passenger vehicle fire 14 14.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 13 13.0%
Building fires 9 9.0%
Unauthorized burning 8 8.0%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 7 7.0%
All other categories 49 49.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 8
Feb 12
Mar 8
Apr 13
May 14
Jun 8
Jul 12
Aug 4
Sep 7
Oct 3
Nov 11
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in San Clemente

588 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $19.7M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 127 —
2022 128 +0.8%
2023 102 -20.3%
2024 131 +28.4%
2025 100 -23.7%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 9 building fires San Clemente departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
67%
24
Cause undetermined
17%
6
Intentional / arson
3%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
5
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in San Clemente?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 302 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 55 18.2%
2 Cooking area, kitchen 33 10.9%
3 Other 29 9.6%
4 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 25 8.3%
5 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 21 7.0%
6 Outside area, other 18 6.0%
7 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 15 5.0%
8 Undetermined 15 5.0%
9 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 11 3.6%
10 Vehicle area, other 10 3.3%
11 All other areas 70 23.2%
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 San Clemente mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 129 42.7%
2 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 42 13.9%
3 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 18 6.0%
4 Arcing 18 6.0%
5 Heat from powered equipment, other 15 5.0%
6 Cigarette lighter 11 3.6%
7 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 9 3.0%
8 Cigarette 9 3.0%
9 Heat source: other 8 2.6%
10 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 8 2.6%
11 All other sources 35 11.6%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $913K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by San Clemente departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $750,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $22,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
4 $10,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
5 $10,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
6 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $6,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $5,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How San Clemente compares

San Clemente vs California vs the nation

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

1.56
Incidents per 1,000 residents
San Clemente
1.56
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.14
Building fires per 1,000 residents
San Clemente
0.14
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
San Clemente
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in San Clemente

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

Wildfires within 50 mi of San Clemente

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 487,182 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2003 Arson/incendiarism 56,427 40.2 mi
2007 Other causes 49,390 44.5 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 30.1 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 20.7 mi
1993 Power generation/transmission/distribution 24,387 37.7 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 23,025 16.7 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 22,000 48.5 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,384 7.2 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,004 7.6 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 20,768 41.9 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 20,292 49.3 mi
2003 Natural 19,575 49.9 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in San Clemente do fires concentrate?

Top 3 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 92672 404
2 92673 181
3 92677 2
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to San Clemente

Six California cities with population within ±25% of San Clemente. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in San Clemente?

1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in San Clemente.

San Onofre FD
5000 Pacific Coast Hwy HWY
FDID 37146
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.