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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Wasco, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Wasco responded to 115 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2023 Kern County 26,317 residents 0 reporting departments 733 5-yr
Total incidents
115
-25.3% vs 2024
Building fires
3
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$333K
$220K structure · $112K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.

115
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 18 15.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 18 15.7%
Passenger vehicle fire 10 8.7%
Outside rubbish fire, other 10 8.7%
Hazardous condition, other 7 6.1%
All other categories 52 45.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 7
Feb 6
Mar 11
Apr 7
May 13
Jun 12
Jul 10
Aug 14
Sep 8
Oct 11
Nov 6
Dec 10
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Wasco

733 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.9M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 143 —
2022 145 +1.4%
2023 176 +21.4%
2024 154 -12.5%
2025 115 -25.3%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 3 building fires Wasco departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
37%
7
Cause undetermined
63%
12
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 Wasco?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 214 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 Undetermined 73 34.1%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 24 11.2%
3 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 10 4.7%
4 Outside area, other 9 4.2%
5 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 8 3.7%
6 Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola 8 3.7%
7 Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room 7 3.3%
8 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 7 3.3%
9 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 6 2.8%
10 Cooking area, kitchen 6 2.8%
11 All other areas 56 26.2%
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 Wasco mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 143 66.8%
2 Arcing 15 7.0%
3 Heat source: other 9 4.2%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 6 2.8%
5 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 5 2.3%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 5 2.3%
7 Heat spread from another fire, other 5 2.3%
8 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 4 1.9%
9 Candle 4 1.9%
10 Hot or smoldering object, other 3 1.4%
11 All other sources 15 7.0%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $177K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wasco departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 80% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $75,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
2 $25,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $20,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $15,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $12,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
6 $10,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
7 $10,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $10,000 Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant Investigated
05 How Wasco compares

Wasco vs California vs the nation

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

4.37
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Wasco
4.37
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.11
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Wasco
0.11
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Wasco
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Wasco

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

Wildfires within 50 mi of Wasco

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 337,126 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2017 Equipment and vehicle use 48,000 47.0 mi
1997 Power generation/transmission/distribution 47,000 19.9 mi
1997 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 43,700 36.0 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 29,192 44.8 mi
2011 Natural 25,213 43.1 mi
1993 Natural 16,000 45.0 mi
2006 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 14,988 48.4 mi
1997 Arson/incendiarism 10,416 29.4 mi
2010 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 9,820 43.1 mi
1995 Arson/incendiarism 8,845 23.1 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,760 47.2 mi
1992 Equipment and vehicle use 7,530 49.5 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Wasco 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 93280 730
2 93268 3
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Wasco

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