In 2025, fire departments serving Nevada County responded to 1,360 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $2.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 40% of all calls.
May peaks. Apr dips.
6,461 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,042 | |
| 2022 | 1,190 | |
| 2023 | 1,377 | |
| 2024 | 1,492 | |
| 2025 | 1,360 |
For the 113 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Nevada County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 64% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Soda Springs | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | PCFD | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $500,000 | HIGGINSFPD | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $500,000 | NORTHSANJUANFD | Grass fire | Major |
| 5 | $450,000 | Northstar | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major |
| 6 | $400,000 | Nevada City | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $400,000 | Grass Valley | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $400,000 | Nevada City | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $350,000 | Grass Valley | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $350,000 | PENN VALLEY | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 06057.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Truckee | 16,784 | View › |
| Grass Valley | 13,964 | View › |
| Alta Sierra | 7,425 | View › |
| Lake Wildwood | 4,974 | View › |
| Lake of the Pines | 4,703 | View › |
| Nevada City | 3,142 | View › |
| Penn Valley | 1,188 | View › |
| Rough and Ready | 623 | View › |
| Washington | 117 | View › |
| North San Juan | 109 | View › |
| Kingvale | 85 | View › |
| Soda Springs | 54 | View › |
16 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.