In 2025, fire departments serving Burlingame responded to 34 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $130K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
196 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 39 | — | |
| 2022 | 51 | +30.8% | |
| 2023 | 39 | -23.5% | |
| 2024 | 33 | -15.4% | |
| 2025 | 34 | +3.0% |
For the 13 building fires Burlingame departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 121 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 origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 60 | 49.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 14 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 5.8% |
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 Burlingame mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 45 | 37.2% | |
| 2 | Match | 18 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 15 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Burlingame departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $115,670 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Burlingame sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 81,470 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,000 | 43.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 5,000 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,000 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,500 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,500 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 3,490 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 31.1 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Kansas cities with population within ±25% of Burlingame. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
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.