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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Templeton, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Templeton responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2025 San Luis Obispo County 8,614 residents 0 reporting departments 136 5-yr
Total incidents
56
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
12
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$11.5M
$10.5M structure · $969K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.

56
Total Incidents
Building fires 12 21.4%
Fire, other 7 12.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 6 10.7%
Passenger vehicle fire 5 8.9%
Hazardous condition, other 4 7.1%
All other categories 22 39.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 5
Feb 3
Mar 4
Apr 5
May 4
Jun 9
Jul 12
Aug 3
Sep 0
Oct 4
Nov 2
Dec 5
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Templeton

136 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $11.4M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 10 —
2022 29 —
2023 31 +6.9%
2024* 10 —
2025 56 —

* Well below Templeton'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 12 building fires Templeton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
65%
11
Cause undetermined
18%
3
Intentional / arson
18%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Templeton?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 5 13.5%
2 Outside area, other 5 13.5%
3 Other 4 10.8%
4 Undetermined 3 8.1%
5 Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room 2 5.4%
6 Storage area, other 2 5.4%
7 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 2 5.4%
8 Wildland, woods 2 5.4%
9 Interior stairway or ramp 1 2.7%
10 Egress/exit, other 1 2.7%
11 All other areas 10 27.0%
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 Templeton mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Heat source: other 9 24.3%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 5 13.5%
3 Undetermined 5 13.5%
4 Arcing 4 10.8%
5 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 3 8.1%
6 Explosive, fireworks, other 3 8.1%
7 Hot ember or ash 2 5.4%
8 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 1 2.7%
9 Hot or smoldering object, other 1 2.7%
10 Fireworks 1 2.7%
11 All other sources 3 8.1%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $10.5M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Templeton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $10,000,000 Building fires Catastrophic Investigated
2 $400,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $40,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
4 $20,000 Fires in structures other than in a building Significant Investigated
5 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $8,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
7 $5,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $4,500 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Templeton compares

Templeton vs California vs the nation

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

6.5
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Templeton
6.5
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
1.39
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Templeton
1.39
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Templeton
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Templeton

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 480,391 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
1996 Equipment and vehicle use 106,668 19.1 mi
1997 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 49,490 42.2 mi
1994 Arson/incendiarism 48,851 8.5 mi
2017 Equipment and vehicle use 48,000 36.4 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 46,235 17.3 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 29,667 38.8 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,687 43.9 mi
1996 Power generation/transmission/distribution 19,839 47.8 mi
1993 Natural 16,000 34.1 mi
2006 Natural 14,507 34.2 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 10,000 43.7 mi
2016 Equipment and vehicle use 7,050 38.4 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Templeton 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 93465 128
2 93446 8
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Templeton

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