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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Westminster, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Westminster responded to 241 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2024 Orange County 90,638 residents 0 reporting departments 1,242 5-yr
Total incidents
241
-14.2% vs 2024
Building fires
21
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$1.7M
$1.3M structure · $346K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 1
0 civilian deaths · 1 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 57% of all calls.

241
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 56 23.2%
Unauthorized burning 23 9.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 22 9.1%
Building fires 21 8.7%
Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire 15 6.2%
All other categories 104 43.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 42
Feb 25
Mar 13
Apr 14
May 14
Jun 23
Jul 30
Aug 17
Sep 25
Oct 23
Nov 15
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Westminster

1,242 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $7.0M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 265 —
2022 231 -12.8%
2023 224 -3.0%
2024 281 +25.4%
2025 241 -14.2%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 21 building fires Westminster departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
23%
37
Cause undetermined
58%
92
Intentional / arson
14%
22
Equipment / heat source failure
4%
6
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Westminster?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 778 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 Other 124 15.9%
2 Undetermined 115 14.8%
3 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 77 9.9%
4 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 71 9.1%
5 Outside area, other 63 8.1%
6 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 60 7.7%
7 Cooking area, kitchen 37 4.8%
8 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 19 2.4%
9 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 19 2.4%
10 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 18 2.3%
11 All other areas 175 22.5%
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 Westminster mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 434 55.8%
2 Heat source: other 34 4.4%
3 Arcing 33 4.2%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 32 4.1%
5 Cigarette lighter 32 4.1%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 31 4.0%
7 Hot or smoldering object, other 30 3.9%
8 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 23 3.0%
9 Hot ember or ash 21 2.7%
10 Radiated heat from another fire 19 2.4%
11 All other sources 89 11.4%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $1.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Westminster departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 87% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $400,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $300,000 Building fires Major Investigated
3 $250,000 Building fires Major Investigated
4 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $35,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
7 $35,000 Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant Investigated
8 $30,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
05 How Westminster compares

Westminster vs California vs the nation

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

2.66
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Westminster
2.66
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.23
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Westminster
0.23
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Westminster
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Westminster

15 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 3
30-39 2
40-49 0
50-59 4
60-69 4
70-79 2
80+ 0
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 11 FF 4
Gender
M 11 F 4 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
2
1
5
2
1
3
4
4
3
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Westminster

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 744,537 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 35.7 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 34.3 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 41.1 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 35.1 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,274 46.6 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 16.8 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 28,476 18.8 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 23,025 28.0 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 22,000 41.7 mi
1993 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,384 35.0 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 21,004 38.0 mi
2002 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 20,857 36.8 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Westminster do fires concentrate?

Top 5 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 92683 1,234
2 92843 3
3 92655 2
4 92647 1
5 92844 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Westminster

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