In 2025, fire departments serving Kern County responded to 6,810 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $7.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips.
45,273 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10,832 | |
| 2022 | 6,584 | |
| 2023 | 11,589 | |
| 2024 | 9,458 | |
| 2025 | 6,810 |
For the 422 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Kern County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 30% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $7,000,000 | Kern County | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $3,000,000 | Lost Hills | Outside equipment fire | Major |
| 3 | $900,000 | Lebec | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major |
| 4 | $850,000 | Kern County | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major |
| 5 | $750,000 | Tehachapi | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $750,000 | Kern County | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major |
| 7 | $750,000 | Kern County | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major |
| 8 | $700,000 | Kern County | Construction or demolition landfill fire | Major |
| 9 | $550,000 | Kern County | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major |
| 10 | $500,000 | Bakersfield | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 06029.
8 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.