Dome Fire Reaches 6,632 Acres in Yosemite, 40% Contained as of Oct. 3
The Dome Fire has burned 6,632 acres in Yosemite National Park and is 40% contained as of Oct. 3, with 765 personnel assigned; Glacier Point Road stays closed.
CA
In 2025, fire departments serving Santa Cruz responded to 479 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Dec peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,662 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $17.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 701 | — | |
| 2022 | 838 | +19.5% | |
| 2023 | 824 | -1.7% | |
| 2024 | 820 | -0.5% | |
| 2025 | 479 | -41.6% |
For the 25 building fires Santa Cruz departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,306 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 | Outside area, other | 305 | 23.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 116 | 8.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 110 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 106 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 95 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 85 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 76 | 5.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 57 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 55 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 33 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 268 | 20.5% |
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 Santa Cruz mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 717 | 54.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 77 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 77 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 55 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 54 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 53 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 45 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 31 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 31 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 20 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 146 | 11.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Santa Cruz departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $210,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $45,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Santa Cruz sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 805,918 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 396,624 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 132,127 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 86,509 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48,088 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 47,760 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 30,170 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,817 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,905 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,513 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 5,018 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,474 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 4,279 | 24.1 mi |
Top 9 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six California cities with population within ±25% of Santa Cruz. 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.