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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Montara, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Montara responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B+ Peak yr 2023 San Mateo County 2,649 residents 0 reporting departments 108 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Montara's departments reported 11 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 22 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
11
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
1
Residential 0% Other 100%
Property loss
$55K
$5K structure · $50K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.

11
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 4 36.4%
Power line down 3 27.3%
Building fires 1 9.1%
Hazardous condition, other 1 9.1%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 1 9.1%
All other categories 1 9.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

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

Year over year in Montara

108 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.5M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 21 —
2022 20 -4.8%
2023 36 +80.0%
2024 20 -44.4%
2025* 11 —

* Well below Montara'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 1 building fires Montara departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
0%
0
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
100%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Montara?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 Undetermined 2 18.2%
2 Cooking area, kitchen 1 9.1%
3 Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft 1 9.1%
4 Structural area, other 1 9.1%
5 Roof surface: exterior 1 9.1%
6 Vehicle area, other 1 9.1%
7 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 1 9.1%
8 Outside area, other 1 9.1%
9 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 1 9.1%
10 Wildland, woods 1 9.1%
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 Montara mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Arcing 3 27.3%
2 Undetermined 3 27.3%
3 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 2 18.2%
4 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 1 9.1%
5 Cigarette lighter 1 9.1%
6 Flame/torch used for lighting 1 9.1%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $5K in losses

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

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $5,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Montara compares

Montara vs California vs the nation

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

4.15
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Montara
4.15
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.38
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Montara
0.38
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Montara
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Montara

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 145,809 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 86,509 25.1 mi
1995 Recreation and ceremony 12,354 42.4 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,817 32.3 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 48.7 mi
2020 Natural 4,929 37.6 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,474 47.3 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,270 41.7 mi
2013 Firearms and explosives use 3,100 41.8 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 1,660 41.8 mi
1998 Equipment and vehicle use 1,388 44.7 mi
1999 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 1,300 42.2 mi
2004 Equipment and vehicle use 1,246 47.1 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Montara do fires concentrate?

Top 1 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 94037 108
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Montara

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