Home› California› Willows
2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Willows, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Willows responded to 121 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $270K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B- Peak yr 2022 Glenn County 6,201 residents 0 reporting departments 497 5-yr
Total incidents
121
+18.6% vs 2024
Building fires
19
Residential 63% Other 37%
Property loss
$759K
$574K structure · $185K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 43% of all calls.

121
Total Incidents
Building fires 19 15.7%
Unauthorized burning 11 9.1%
Grass fire 8 6.6%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 7 5.8%
Authorized controlled burning 7 5.8%
All other categories 69 57.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 10
Feb 4
Mar 11
Apr 14
May 12
Jun 11
Jul 10
Aug 4
Sep 11
Oct 15
Nov 10
Dec 9
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Willows

497 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.8M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 50 —
2022 130 —
2023 94 -27.7%
2024 102 +8.5%
2025 121 +18.6%

* Well below Willows'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 19 building fires Willows departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
36%
8
Cause undetermined
27%
6
Intentional / arson
5%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
23%
5
Under investigation
9%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Willows?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 138 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 20 14.5%
2 Other 18 13.0%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 16 11.6%
4 Outside area, other 12 8.7%
5 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 12 8.7%
6 Cooking area, kitchen 9 6.5%
7 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 7 5.1%
8 Storage area, other 4 2.9%
9 Wildland, woods 4 2.9%
10 Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room 3 2.2%
11 All other areas 33 23.9%
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 Willows mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 48 34.8%
2 Heat source: other 25 18.1%
3 Arcing 13 9.4%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 9 6.5%
5 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 7 5.1%
6 Hot or smoldering object, other 7 5.1%
7 Heat spread from another fire, other 6 4.3%
8 Cigarette lighter 3 2.2%
9 Flame/torch used for lighting 3 2.2%
10 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 2 1.4%
11 All other sources 15 10.9%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $565K in losses

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

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $270,000 Fires in structures other than in a building Major Investigated
2 $150,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $75,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $20,000 Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant Investigated
5 $15,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $15,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $15,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $5,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Willows compares

Willows vs California vs the nation

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

19.51
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Willows
19.51
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
3.06
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Willows
3.06
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Willows
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Willows

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,405,617 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Natural 589,368 30.6 mi
2018 Power generation/transmission/distribution 153,336 45.6 mi
2018 Other causes 90,288 48.7 mi
1996 Arson/incendiarism 83,323 42.2 mi
2015 Other causes 69,363 44.5 mi
2020 Natural 51,576 49.2 mi
1999 Arson/incendiarism 40,000 39.0 mi
2004 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 39,138 41.6 mi
2012 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 29,502 30.3 mi
2020 Natural 26,196 48.3 mi
2015 Equipment and vehicle use 25,156 49.5 mi
2001 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 24,970 25.2 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Willows 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 95988 490
2 95963 7
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Willows

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