In 2025, fire departments serving Waianae responded to 396 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $670K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,257 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $8.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 515 | — | |
| 2022 | 417 | -19.0% | |
| 2023 | 503 | +20.6% | |
| 2024 | 426 | -15.3% | |
| 2025 | 396 | -7.0% |
For the 21 building fires Waianae departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 254 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 | Undetermined | 61 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 42 | 16.5% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 38 | 15.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 54 | 21.3% |
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 Waianae mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 166 | 65.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 15 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 15 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Incendiary device | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 5.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Waianae departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $670,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $648,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $437,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $252,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $201,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $28,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $27,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Waianae sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 33,954 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,000 | 8.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,820 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 6.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 5.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 1.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 2.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,507 | 5.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 7.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,235 | 0.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 7.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 3.6 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 Hawaii cities with population within ±25% of Waianae. 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.