In 2025, fire departments serving Waipahu responded to 254 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $514K 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 69% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,102 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $6.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 204 | — | |
| 2022 | 174 | -14.7% | |
| 2023 | 222 | +27.6% | |
| 2024 | 248 | +11.7% | |
| 2025 | 254 | +2.4% |
For the 14 building fires Waipahu departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 158 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 39 | 24.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 37 | 23.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 8 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 32 | 20.3% |
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 Waipahu mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 101 | 63.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 10 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 5.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Waipahu departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $514,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $328,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $308,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $208,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $156,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $108,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $34,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Waipahu sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
16 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 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 7 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
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 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,820 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 7.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 11.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,507 | 8.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,235 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 18.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 10.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Waipahu. 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.