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Fire Incidents in California (CA)

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This section offers an overview of all fire incidents in California (CA). We analyzed the annual National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release files provided by the U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA) National Fire Data Center (NFDC) to get this data. Please note, this isn't a fire census. The input from the fire departments may contain human error but the proportion of fire incidents reported to NFIRS is large enough to make reasonable interferences.

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Noncontained Fire Incidents in California (CA)

Noncontained fires demand detailed fire investigations so we've only accounted for those in this report. We haven't considered contained fires with no casualties or significant property loss for this section.

California (CA) Fire Incidents (Top 10 Cities)

This table ranks California (CA) cities based on the number of fire incidents. Stockton ranks first with 3791 incidents, while Mount Shasta ranked last, with 10 incidents.

PositionCity4Y Trend2023202220212020
1Stockton▲3791472842293820
2Los Angeles▼2139509467406422
3Sacramento▼1458179119711305
4San Jose▼141917308691603
5San Francisco▲117712031000733
6Bakersfield▲899390913750
7Long Beach▲788685584531
8San Diego▼7838378471012
9Fresno▲773208212811114
10Oakland▼678633591042

California (CA) Wildland Fire Incidents (Top 10 Cities)

This table ranks California (CA) cities based on the number of wildland fires. Bakersfield ranks first with 464 incidents, while Willows ranked last, with Loading incidents.

PositionCity4Y Trend2023202220212020
1Bakersfield▼464103267273
2Modesto▼278350355333
3Kern County▲24594909
4Riverside▼214251278252
5San Diego▲19627918841
6Fremont▲1331329594
7West Sacramento▼1271890203
8Tracy▲126111812
9Madera▼111113121198
10Visalia▼1018588142

California (CA) Arson Fire Incidents (Top 10 Cities)

This table ranks California (CA) cities based on the number of intentional fires. Bakersfield ranks first with 8 incidents, while Yucaipa ranked last, with Loading incidents.

PositionCity4Y Trend2023202220212020
1Bakersfield▲80109
2Calexico▲4242
3Hanford▲4110
4Burney↔3001
5Eureka▲3211
6Sacramento▲3220
7Santa Cruz▲3220
8Brawley▲2110
9Chowchilla▲2010
10Gilroy▲2010

California (CA) Juvenile Arson Fire Incidents (Top 10 Cities)

This table ranks California (CA) cities based on the number of juvenile intentional fires. Bakersfield ranks first with 1 incidents, while Yucaipa ranked last, with Loading incidents.

PositionCity4Y Trend2023202220212020
1Bakersfield▲1000
2Benicia▲1000
3Corona▲1010
4Cottonwood▲1000
5Culver City▲1000
6Hanford↔1011
7El Segundo↔0000
8Acampo↔0000
9Acton↔0000
10Aguanga↔0000

California (CA) Fire Incidents with Civilian Casualties (Top 10 Cities)

This table ranks California (CA) cities based on the number of fires with civilian casualties. San Francisco ranks first with 13 incidents, while Yucaipa ranked last, with Loading incidents.

PositionCity4Y Trend2023202220212020
1San Francisco▲1319105
2Bakersfield▲119715
3Los Angeles▼11172718
4Stockton▲1121108
5San Jose▲10964
6Sacramento▲816116
7Visalia▲8475
8Riverside▼714199
9Santa Ana▲7564
10Fresno▼631721

California (CA) Fire Incidents with Fire Service Casualties (Top 10 Cities)

This table ranks California (CA) cities based on the number of fires with firefighter casualties. Stockton ranks first with 13 incidents, while Yucaipa ranked last, with Loading incidents.

PositionCity4Y Trend2023202220212020
1Stockton▼13202922
2Los Angeles▼8025
3Ontario▼8136
4Bakersfield▲7452
5Fremont▲6810
6Riverside▲4351
7Citrus Heights▲3110
8Elk Grove▲3100
9Vacaville▲3531
10Dinuba▲3010

Where is Fire Incident Data Coming From? NFIRS

The NFIRS is a reporting standard that fire departments use to uniformly report on the full range of their activities, from fire to emergency medical services (EMS) to equipment involved in the response.

Anyone analyzing the NFIRS data should note that NFIRS is neither a random sample nor a census of fire incidents or casualties in the United States. As such, the analyst may not accurately make estimates of total fires, fire losses, or fire casualties in the United States from NFIRS data alone. Similarly, statistical means (averages) or standard error measurements taken from NFIRS describe the population of fire incidents related to fire departments that participate in NFIRS but do not describe the population of fire incidents in the Nation as a whole. However, the proportion of fire incidents reported to NFIRS is large enough that reasonable inferences can be made that the proportions of fires in NFIRS are similar to the true national measurements.