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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Summerland, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Summerland responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B+ Peak yr 2025 Santa Barbara County 1,274 residents 0 reporting departments 53 5-yr
Total incidents
16
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
0
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$4K
$1K structure · $3K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.

16
Total Incidents
Hazardous condition, other 3 18.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 2 12.5%
Power line down 2 12.5%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 2 12.5%
Fires in structures other than in a building 1 6.2%
All other categories 6 37.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

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

Year over year in Summerland

53 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $57K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 7 —
2022 15 +114.3%
2023 11 -26.7%
2024* 4 —
2025 16 —

* Well below Summerland'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 Summerland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
75%
3
Cause undetermined
25%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Summerland?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 3 27.3%
2 Undetermined 3 27.3%
3 Cooking area, kitchen 1 9.1%
4 Switchgear area, transformer vault 1 9.1%
5 Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch 1 9.1%
6 Vehicle area, other 1 9.1%
7 Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace 1 9.1%
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 Summerland mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 5 45.5%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 2 18.2%
3 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 2 18.2%
4 Arcing 1 9.1%
5 Cigarette 1 9.1%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $1K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Summerland departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,000 Fires in structures other than in a building Significant Investigated
05 How Summerland compares

Summerland vs California vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Summerland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

12.56
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Summerland
12.56
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Summerland
0
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Summerland
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Summerland

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,187,471 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 281,893 30.4 mi
2007 Equipment and vehicle use 240,207 37.4 mi
2006 Debris and open burning 162,702 49.1 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 91,622 42.3 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 47.8 mi
1993 Smoking 43,201 27.5 mi
1993 Arson/incendiarism 38,152 45.1 mi
2016 Power generation/transmission/distribution 32,606 14.7 mi
2006 Misuse of fire by a minor 30,000 40.0 mi
1997 Arson/incendiarism 24,800 42.4 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 24,238 38.8 mi
2002 Equipment and vehicle use 21,645 18.3 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Summerland 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 93067 44
2 93013 5
3 93108 4
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Summerland

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Summerland. 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.