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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Santa Nella, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Santa Nella responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2025 Merced County 2,055 residents 0 reporting departments 11 5-yr
Total incidents
11
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
0
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$7K
$7K structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.

11
Total Incidents
Grass fire 5 45.5%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 2 18.2%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 1 9.1%
Road freight or transport vehicle fire 1 9.1%
Garbage dump or sanitary landfill fire 1 9.1%
All other categories 1 9.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 0
Feb 0
Mar 0
Apr 0
May 5
Jun 3
Jul 1
Aug 1
Sep 1
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Santa Nella

11 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $7K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 0 —
2022* 0 —
2023* 0 —
2024* 0 —
2025 11 —

* Well below Santa Nella's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 0 building fires Santa Nella departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
50%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
50%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Santa Nella?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2 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 Structural area, other 1 50.0%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 1 50.0%
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 Santa Nella mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Chemical reaction 1 50.0%
2 Undetermined 1 50.0%
04 The biggest fires

2 fires · $7K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Santa Nella departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $5,000 Garbage dump or sanitary landfill fire Significant Investigated
2 $2,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Santa Nella compares

Santa Nella vs California vs the nation

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

5.35
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Santa Nella
5.35
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Santa Nella
0
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Santa Nella
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Santa Nella

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 669,494 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 37.7 mi
2007 Recreation and ceremony 47,760 27.7 mi
2006 Equipment and vehicle use 34,271 25.3 mi
2003 Natural 30,170 27.6 mi
2006 Equipment and vehicle use 25,000 29.8 mi
1996 Power generation/transmission/distribution 18,340 38.6 mi
1996 Equipment and vehicle use 16,820 20.1 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,300 35.0 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,200 46.6 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 6,804 39.7 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 6,437 49.4 mi
2005 Equipment and vehicle use 5,514 49.4 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Santa Nella do fires concentrate?

Top 2 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 95322 9
2 93635 2
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Santa Nella

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Santa Nella. 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.