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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Mill Valley, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Mill Valley responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C+ Peak yr 2022 Marin County 14,199 residents 0 reporting departments 507 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Mill Valley's departments reported 45 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 101 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
45
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
19
Residential 63% Other 37%
Property loss
$26K
$25K structure · $1K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.

45
Total Incidents
Building fires 19 42.2%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 5 11.1%
Passenger vehicle fire 4 8.9%
Power line down 4 8.9%
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 2 4.4%
All other categories 11 24.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 6
Feb 1
Mar 0
Apr 2
May 3
Jun 3
Jul 1
Aug 8
Sep 2
Oct 6
Nov 8
Dec 5
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Mill Valley

507 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.1M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 178 —
2022 215 +20.8%
2023* 31 —
2024* 38 —
2025* 45 —

* Well below Mill Valley'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 19 building fires Mill Valley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
40%
2
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
20%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
40%
2
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Mill Valley?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 10 12.7%
2 Undetermined 10 12.7%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 9 11.4%
4 Cooking area, kitchen 8 10.1%
5 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 6 7.6%
6 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 5 6.3%
7 Wildland, woods 4 5.1%
8 Vehicle area, other 3 3.8%
9 Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace 3 3.8%
10 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 3 3.8%
11 All other areas 18 22.8%
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 Mill Valley mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 37 46.8%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 7 8.9%
3 Arcing 6 7.6%
4 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 5 6.3%
5 Heat source: other 4 5.1%
6 Hot or smoldering object, other 4 5.1%
7 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 4 5.1%
8 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 3 3.8%
9 Chemical reaction 3 3.8%
10 Heat, spark from friction 1 1.3%
11 All other sources 5 6.3%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $25K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mill Valley departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $25,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Mill Valley compares

Mill Valley vs California vs the nation

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

3.17
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Mill Valley
3.17
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
1.34
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Mill Valley
1.34
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Mill Valley
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Mill Valley

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 678,169 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Natural 305,651 42.6 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 86,509 48.3 mi
2020 Equipment and vehicle use 67,484 44.6 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 56,556 34.8 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,624 37.1 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36,807 48.6 mi
1995 Recreation and ceremony 12,354 21.8 mi
2015 Equipment and vehicle use 8,051 47.4 mi
2014 Fireworks 6,488 48.0 mi
2000 Equipment and vehicle use 5,731 47.6 mi
2016 Equipment and vehicle use 5,731 43.9 mi
2020 Natural 5,000 45.2 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Mill Valley do fires concentrate?

Top 4 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 94941 504
2 94947 1
3 94965 1
4 94970 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Mill Valley

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Mill Valley. 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.