In 2025, fire departments serving Butte County responded to 2,197 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
May peaks. Nov dips.
11,491 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,797 | |
| 2022 | 2,477 | |
| 2023 | 2,459 | |
| 2024 | 2,561 | |
| 2025 | 2,197 |
For the 121 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Butte County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 46% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | FRBSTWN | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $400,000 | ORO | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $400,000 | ORVL | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $350,000 | MGLA | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $300,000 | RCHVL | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major |
| 6 | $263,175 | ORO | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $250,000 | KELLYRDGE | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $200,000 | PDSE | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $200,000 | GRDLY | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $200,000 | GRDLY | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 06007.
7 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
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.