In 2025, fire departments serving Humboldt County responded to 988 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $416K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 41% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips.
6,106 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,450 | |
| 2022 | 1,455 | |
| 2023 | 1,259 | |
| 2024 | 954 | |
| 2025 | 988 |
For the 81 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Humboldt County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 58% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $416,370 | Arcata | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $300,000 | Eureka | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $227,528 | REDWOODVALLEY | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $200,000 | Ridgewoods Heights | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $200,000 | Fortuna | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $150,000 | Eureka | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $130,000 | Arcata | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 8 | $125,000 | Bridgeville | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $106,493 | McKinleyville | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $104,093 | Arcata | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 06023.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Eureka | 26,519 | View › |
| Arcata | 18,536 | View › |
| McKinleyville | 16,913 | View › |
| Fortuna | 12,527 | View › |
| Myrtletown | 4,946 | View › |
| Pine Hills | 3,508 | View › |
| Rio Dell | 3,386 | View › |
| Cutten | 3,309 | View › |
| Humboldt Hill | 3,273 | View › |
| Bayview | 2,719 | View › |
| Hoopa | 2,489 | View › |
| Garberville | 1,815 | View › |
12 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.