Home› California› Monrovia
2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Monrovia, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Monrovia responded to 299 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2025 Los Angeles County 37,656 residents 0 reporting departments 1,011 5-yr
Total incidents
299
+43.8% vs 2024
Building fires
16
Residential 63% Other 37%
Property loss
$1.4M
$1.2M structure · $234K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.

299
Total Incidents
Power line down 130 43.5%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 44 14.7%
Building fires 16 5.4%
Passenger vehicle fire 11 3.7%
Fire, other 10 3.3%
All other categories 88 29.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 138
Feb 9
Mar 16
Apr 10
May 11
Jun 22
Jul 21
Aug 20
Sep 8
Oct 5
Nov 26
Dec 13
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Monrovia

1,011 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $6.9M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 143 —
2022 188 +31.5%
2023 173 -8.0%
2024 208 +20.2%
2025 299 +43.8%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 16 building fires Monrovia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
32%
13
Cause undetermined
39%
16
Intentional / arson
15%
6
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
5
Under investigation
2%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Monrovia?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 170 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 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 26 15.3%
2 Undetermined 21 12.4%
3 Outside area, other 18 10.6%
4 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 12 7.1%
5 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 11 6.5%
6 Vehicle area, other 9 5.3%
7 Cooking area, kitchen 7 4.1%
8 Other 6 3.5%
9 Laundry area, wash house (laundry) 6 3.5%
10 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 5 2.9%
11 All other areas 49 28.8%
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 Monrovia mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 85 50.0%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 18 10.6%
3 Heat source: other 9 5.3%
4 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 9 5.3%
5 Arcing 8 4.7%
6 Hot ember or ash 7 4.1%
7 Hot or smoldering object, other 6 3.5%
8 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 6 3.5%
9 Candle 5 2.9%
10 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 4 2.4%
11 All other sources 13 7.6%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $1.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Monrovia departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $500,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $125,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $125,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $50,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $30,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $25,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $23,000 Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant Investigated
05 How Monrovia compares

Monrovia vs California vs the nation

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

7.94
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Monrovia
7.94
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.42
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Monrovia
0.42
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Monrovia
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Monrovia

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,250,961 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 12.5 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 6.0 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 41.4 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 40.8 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 91,281 41.0 mi
1999 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 65,000 49.5 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 49.1 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 29.2 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 45,300 49.2 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 29.9 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 31.6 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 12.5 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Monrovia do fires concentrate?

Top 5 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 91016 962
2 91010 43
3 91006 3
4 91706 2
5 91008 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Monrovia

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Monrovia. 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.