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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in West Hollywood, California

In 2025, fire departments serving West Hollywood responded to 145 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B+ Peak yr 2023 Los Angeles County 35,358 residents 0 reporting departments 1,474 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. West Hollywood's departments reported 145 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 295 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
145
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
10
Residential 60% Other 40%
Property loss
$717K
$551K structure · $166K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.

145
Total Incidents
Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire 21 14.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 21 14.5%
Cooking fire, confined to container 15 10.3%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 14 9.7%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 12 8.3%
All other categories 62 42.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 25
Feb 35
Mar 10
Apr 11
May 6
Jun 6
Jul 6
Aug 12
Sep 7
Oct 5
Nov 8
Dec 14
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in West Hollywood

1,474 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.8M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 149 —
2022 362 —
2023 628 +73.5%
2024 190 -69.7%
2025* 145 —

* Well below West Hollywood'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 10 building fires West Hollywood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
55%
11
Cause undetermined
10%
2
Intentional / arson
5%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
3
Under investigation
10%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in West Hollywood?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 230 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 32 13.9%
2 Outside area, other 26 11.3%
3 Undetermined 21 9.1%
4 Cooking area, kitchen 13 5.7%
5 Vehicle area, other 13 5.7%
6 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 11 4.8%
7 Other 10 4.3%
8 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 10 4.3%
9 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 8 3.5%
10 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 7 3.0%
11 All other areas 79 34.3%
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 West Hollywood mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 48 20.9%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 36 15.7%
3 Heat source: other 34 14.8%
4 Arcing 23 10.0%
5 Hot or smoldering object, other 18 7.8%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 11 4.8%
7 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 9 3.9%
8 Heat from undetermined smoking material 8 3.5%
9 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 6 2.6%
10 Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions 6 2.6%
11 All other sources 31 13.5%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $537K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Hollywood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $300,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $75,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $75,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $50,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
5 $10,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
6 $10,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $9,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $8,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
05 How West Hollywood compares

West Hollywood vs California vs the nation

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

4.1
Incidents per 1,000 residents
West Hollywood
4.1
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.28
Building fires per 1,000 residents
West Hollywood
0.28
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
West Hollywood
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of West Hollywood

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,516,381 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 281,893 45.7 mi
2006 Debris and open burning 162,702 43.9 mi
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 14.9 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 26.1 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 26.5 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 21.5 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 35.3 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 45,300 38.3 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 23.5 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 30.2 mi
1993 Arson/incendiarism 38,152 28.9 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 34.8 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in West Hollywood do fires concentrate?

Top 7 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 90046 749
2 90069 418
3 90048 288
4 90038 14
5 90049 2
6 90064 2
7 90210 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to West Hollywood

Six California cities with population within ±25% of West Hollywood. 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.