In 2025, fire departments serving San Diego County responded to 7,187 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 40% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips.
54,521 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10,138 | |
| 2022 | 12,086 | |
| 2023 | 11,878 | |
| 2024 | 13,232 | |
| 2025 | 7,187 |
For the 650 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in San Diego County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 76% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000,000 | San Diego | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $25,000,000 | CARLSBAD | Fire, other | Catastrophic |
| 3 | $2,500,000 | ENCINITAS | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $2,250,000 | CARLSBAD | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $2,000,000 | El Cajon | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Major |
| 6 | $2,000,000 | SAN MIGUEL FPD | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $1,500,000 | DEERSPRINGS | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $1,320,300 | FALLBROOK | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $1,320,000 | Chula Vista | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $1,300,000 | Escondido | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 06073.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| San Diego | 1,383,987 | View › |
| Chula Vista | 276,103 | View › |
| Oceanside | 173,722 | View › |
| Escondido | 151,114 | View › |
| Carlsbad | 114,745 | View › |
| El Cajon | 105,721 | View › |
| Vista | 98,392 | View › |
| San Marcos | 94,360 | View › |
| Encinitas | 61,942 | View › |
| La Mesa | 60,888 | View › |
| Santee | 59,497 | View › |
| National City | 56,345 | View › |
41 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.