Home› California› Brisbane
2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Brisbane, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Brisbane responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B Peak yr 2021 San Mateo County 4,756 residents 0 reporting departments 304 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Brisbane's departments reported 35 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 61 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
35
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
0
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$2K
$2 structure · $2K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.

35
Total Incidents
Grass fire 10 28.6%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 5 14.3%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 5 14.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 5.7%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 2 5.7%
All other categories 11 31.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Oct peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 1
Feb 1
Mar 2
Apr 3
May 3
Jun 5
Jul 4
Aug 0
Sep 4
Oct 9
Nov 1
Dec 2
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Brisbane

304 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.9M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 71 —
2022 65 -8.5%
2023 63 -3.1%
2024 70 +11.1%
2025* 35 —

* Well below Brisbane's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 0 building fires Brisbane departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
50%
4
Cause undetermined
25%
2
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
25%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Brisbane?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 111 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.

#Area of originCountShare 
1 Outside area, other 26 23.4%
2 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 14 12.6%
3 Undetermined 14 12.6%
4 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 8 7.2%
5 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 7 6.3%
6 Cooking area, kitchen 6 5.4%
7 Other 5 4.5%
8 Vehicle area, other 5 4.5%
9 Wildland, woods 4 3.6%
10 Laundry area, wash house (laundry) 3 2.7%
11 All other areas 19 17.1%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Brisbane mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 72 64.9%
2 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 6 5.4%
3 Hot ember or ash 6 5.4%
4 Heat source: other 3 2.7%
5 Heat from powered equipment, other 3 2.7%
6 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 3 2.7%
7 Heat, spark from friction 3 2.7%
8 Cigarette lighter 3 2.7%
9 Arcing 2 1.8%
10 Hot or smoldering object, other 2 1.8%
11 All other sources 8 7.2%
04 The biggest fires

2 fires · $2 in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brisbane departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1 Trash or rubbish fire, contained Significant Investigated
2 $1 Grass fire Significant Investigated
05 How Brisbane compares

Brisbane vs California vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brisbane sits below the national average for incidents per resident.

7.36
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Brisbane
7.36
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Brisbane
0
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Brisbane
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Brisbane

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 669,703 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 396,624 49.3 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 86,509 31.5 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 56,556 49.8 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,624 49.3 mi
1995 Recreation and ceremony 12,354 37.4 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,200 47.4 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,817 39.2 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 43.2 mi
2020 Natural 4,929 32.9 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,270 46.2 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,200 43.4 mi
2013 Firearms and explosives use 3,100 32.4 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Brisbane do fires concentrate?

Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 94005 301
2 94014 1
3 94134 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Brisbane

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Brisbane. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.