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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Temecula, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Temecula responded to 273 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $550K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2022 Riverside County 110,114 residents 0 reporting departments 1,370 5-yr
Total incidents
273
+6.2% vs 2024
Building fires
17
Residential 65% Other 35%
Property loss
$3.6M
$2.9M structure · $684K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 2
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 2 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.

273
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 30 11.0%
Passenger vehicle fire 28 10.3%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 26 9.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 19 7.0%
Building fires 17 6.2%
All other categories 153 56.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 27
Feb 27
Mar 17
Apr 27
May 20
Jun 19
Jul 33
Aug 26
Sep 18
Oct 28
Nov 17
Dec 14
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Temecula

1,370 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $11.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 277 —
2022 309 +11.6%
2023 254 -17.8%
2024 257 +1.2%
2025 273 +6.2%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 17 building fires Temecula departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
37%
31
Cause undetermined
24%
20
Intentional / arson
17%
14
Equipment / heat source failure
18%
15
Under investigation
1%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
2
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Temecula?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 472 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 93 19.7%
2 Outside area, other 56 11.9%
3 Undetermined 40 8.5%
4 Cooking area, kitchen 25 5.3%
5 Vehicle area, other 24 5.1%
6 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 20 4.2%
7 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 19 4.0%
8 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 18 3.8%
9 Other 15 3.2%
10 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 14 3.0%
11 All other areas 148 31.4%
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 Temecula mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 128 27.1%
2 Arcing 59 12.5%
3 Heat source: other 50 10.6%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 38 8.1%
5 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 33 7.0%
6 Cigarette lighter 29 6.1%
7 Hot or smoldering object, other 19 4.0%
8 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 14 3.0%
9 Hot ember or ash 11 2.3%
10 Heat, spark from friction 10 2.1%
11 All other sources 81 17.2%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $2.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Temecula departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 72% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $550,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $400,000 Fires in structures other than in a building Major Investigated
3 $270,000 Passenger vehicle fire Major Investigated
4 $250,000 Building fires Major Investigated
5 $250,000 Passenger vehicle fire Major Investigated
6 $150,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $150,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $100,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Temecula compares

Temecula vs California vs the nation

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

2.48
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Temecula
2.48
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.15
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Temecula
0.15
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Temecula
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Temecula

21 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.

AgeCount 
0-9 0
10-19 1
20-29 7
30-39 6
40-49 3
50-59 4
60-69 0
70-79 0
80+ 0
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 13 FF 8
Gender
M 19 F 2 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
7
1
6
2
5
3
2
4
1
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Temecula

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,231,932 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2003 Recreation and ceremony 280,059 42.1 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 197,990 37.8 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 91,281 49.4 mi
2002 Equipment and vehicle use 61,690 42.0 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 56,427 19.4 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,000 47.8 mi
2007 Other causes 49,390 21.3 mi
2006 Arson/incendiarism 40,200 35.1 mi
2020 Equipment and vehicle use 33,424 35.8 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 43.7 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 35.4 mi
1998 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,164 32.4 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Temecula do fires concentrate?

Top 9 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 92592 718
2 92591 363
3 92590 259
4 92544 13
5 92596 9
6 92536 4
7 92563 2
8 92562 1
9 92589 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Temecula

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