In 2025, fire departments serving Santa Barbara County responded to 2,179 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Apr dips.
13,129 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,543 | |
| 2022 | 2,612 | |
| 2023 | 2,874 | |
| 2024 | 2,921 | |
| 2025 | 2,179 |
For the 100 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Santa Barbara County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 46% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | SMRCO | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $800,000 | Santa Maria | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $700,000 | Carpinteria | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major |
| 4 | $350,000 | Santa Maria | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $250,000 | Santa Maria | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major |
| 6 | $200,000 | SMRCO | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 7 | $200,000 | Toro Canyon | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $150,000 | Carpinteria | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $150,000 | Lompoc | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $150,000 | Santa Maria | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 06083.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Maria | 109,543 | View › |
| Santa Barbara | 88,640 | View › |
| Lompoc | 44,086 | View › |
| Goleta | 32,640 | View › |
| Orcutt | 31,137 | View › |
| Eastern Goleta Valley | 29,563 | View › |
| Isla Vista | 14,722 | View › |
| Carpinteria | 13,187 | View › |
| University of California-Santa Barbara | 11,441 | View › |
| Montecito | 8,529 | View › |
| Guadalupe | 8,272 | View › |
| Vandenberg Village | 6,702 | View › |
10 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.