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 South Lake Tahoe responded to 311 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $90K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,826 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.3M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 331 | — | |
| 2022 | 367 | +10.9% | |
| 2023 | 602 | +64.0% | |
| 2024* | 215 | — | |
| 2025 | 311 | — |
* Well below South Lake Tahoe'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.
For the 13 building fires South Lake Tahoe departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 186 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 22 | 11.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 22 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 17 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Roof surface: exterior | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 62 | 33.3% |
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 South Lake Tahoe mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 19.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 28 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 27 | 14.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 13 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 14.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Lake Tahoe departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Lake Tahoe sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 555,648 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 97,717 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 46,800 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 41,545 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 36,450 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 27,440 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26,759 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24,580 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 24,140 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 23,020 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20,385 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 18,380 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 17,790 | 26.7 mi |
Top 5 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 South Lake Tahoe. 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.