In 2025, fire departments serving Stockton responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $450K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
76 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $480K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | -12.5% | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 26 | — | |
| 2025 | 13 | -50.0% |
* Well below Stockton'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 2 building fires Stockton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 20.8% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 4.2% |
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 Stockton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Lightning | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Stockton departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Stockton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 621,893 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Natural | 44,345 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 43,660 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 39,937 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 38,190 | 26.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35,000 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 33,838 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 31,010 | 17.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 30,720 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 28,540 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Firearms and explosives use | 25,582 | 37.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 25,000 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 24,594 | 41.4 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Utah cities with population within ±25% of Stockton. 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.