BlockBefore

Brea, California

47 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Garden Grove census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92821. The Survey maps it on the La Habra quadrangle. 47,325 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 361 feet above sea level.

Brea within Orange County

Then and now

1896 to 1983

The same ground, surveyed 87 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Brea, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet of Brea, surveyed 1896

Compare 1896 against another survey:

On record in Brea

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Brea grew from 39,282 to 47,325 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201039,282
202047,325+8,043 (+20%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

20 surveys from 47 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

160 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 160 fires within 5 miles of Brea between 2004 and 2020, burning about 203 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 31 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined77
Arson/incendiarism31
Misuse of fire by a minor16
Equipment and vehicle use16
Smoking13
Debris and open burning6
Natural1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 2009Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
27 September 2010Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
27 September 2005Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
26 September 2010Smoking1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
25 September 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
25 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undetermined35 acresOrange County Fire AuthorityCARBON FIRE
22 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Orange County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Brea: 4 past producers, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Geothermal. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Alvardo Hot SpringsGeothermalOccurrence
J. A. Houlihan PropertySand and Gravel, ConstructionProspect
La Habra Sand & Gravel Co.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Lindauer & SopnsSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Lindauer CorpSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Lindauer DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Orange County

Storms near this place

2 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brea in 2 storm reports between 2004 and 2005: 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
February 2005Flash FloodBrea$100,000Four homes were flooded in Brea. One resident had to temporarily relocate as a result of the damage.
April 2004Thunderstorm WindBrea$5,000no account filed

Every storm recorded in Orange County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Oleo (historical)1.2 miles48
Brea Chem1.6 miles46
Sunny Hills2.2 miles47
La Habra2.7 miles47
Daum (historical)3.3 miles43
Olinda (historical)3.4 miles46
Placentia3.4 miles46
Fullerton3.5 miles44

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on BreaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q302612The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1660373. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.