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2025 County Report

Fires in Alameda County, CA

In 2025, fire departments serving Alameda County responded to 6,459 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.3M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

1,659,177 residents FIPS 06001 39 cities · 13 fire depts
Total incidents
6,459
35,027 across 5 years
Building fires
298
609 wildland
Property loss
$34.9M
$26.4M structure · $8.6M contents
Casualties
2 / 11
2 civ deaths · 6 civ inj · 5 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.

6,459
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1,073 16.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 722 11.2%
Outside rubbish fire, other 531 8.2%
Power line down 462 7.2%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 392 6.1%
All other categories 3,279 50.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Alameda County?

Jul peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 655
Feb 454
Mar 479
Apr 448
May 602
Jun 588
Jul 673
Aug 584
Sep 516
Oct 532
Nov 414
Dec 514
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Alameda County

35,027 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 5,969
2022 5,923
2023 9,142
2024 7,534
2025 6,459
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 298 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
42%
369
Cause undetermined
26%
230
Intentional / arson
7%
62
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
97
Under investigation
14%
119
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $9.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Alameda County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 36% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,291,145 FREMONT Building fires Major
2 $1,100,000 San Lorenzo Building fires Major
3 $1,000,000 San Leandro Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
4 $1,000,000 Hayward Outside gas or vapor combustion explosion Major
5 $1,000,000 FREMONT Building fires Major
6 $912,000 San Leandro Building fires Major
7 $900,000 San Leandro Building fires Major
8 $825,000 OAKLAND Building fires Major
9 $800,000 San Lorenzo Building fires Major
10 $600,000 Newark Building fires Major
06 How Alameda County compares

Alameda County vs CA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

3.89
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Alameda County
3.89
CA avg
5.35
US avg
7.15
0.18
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Alameda County
0.18
CA avg
0.33
US avg
0.82
1.2
Civilian fire deaths per million
Alameda County
1.2
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Alameda County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 06001.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Alameda County

13 departments report from this county.

ALAMEDA COUNTY FD
—
FDID 01008 2,161 incidents
BERKELEY FD
—
FDID 01015 1,196 incidents
FREMONT FD
—
FDID 01040 910 incidents
LIVERMOREPLEASANTON FD
—
FDID 01065 790 incidents
HAYWARD FD
—
FDID 01045 733 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in CA

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 DIXIE 2021 USFS 963,309
2 DOE 2020 USFS 589,835
3 PARK 2024 CDF 429,602
4 Ranch 2018 USFS 410,202
5 Ranch 2018 BLM 410,200
6 CREEK 2020 USFS 379,881
7 HOPKINS 2020 USFS 328,621
8 Claremont 2020 USFS 318,776
9 Rush 2012 BLM 307,083
10 Rush 2012 BLM 306,810

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.