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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Monterey, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Monterey responded to 252 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.5M building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2024 Monterey County 30,007 residents 0 reporting departments 1,228 5-yr
Total incidents
252
-11.0% vs 2024
Building fires
8
Residential 63% Other 37%
Property loss
$2.4M
$1.9M structure · $561K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 3
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 3 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 42% of all calls.

252
Total Incidents
Power line down 25 9.9%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 24 9.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 20 7.9%
Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill 19 7.5%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 19 7.5%
All other categories 145 57.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 19
Feb 26
Mar 16
Apr 19
May 20
Jun 16
Jul 29
Aug 18
Sep 19
Oct 23
Nov 20
Dec 27
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Monterey

1,228 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $10.7M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 193 —
2022 228 +18.1%
2023 272 +19.3%
2024 283 +4.0%
2025 252 -11.0%
03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 8 building fires Monterey departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
45%
14
Cause undetermined
19%
6
Intentional / arson
13%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
19%
6
Under investigation
3%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Monterey?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 210 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 24 11.4%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 22 10.5%
3 Outside area, other 14 6.7%
4 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 14 6.7%
5 Cooking area, kitchen 13 6.2%
6 Wildland, woods 13 6.2%
7 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 11 5.2%
8 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 10 4.8%
9 Other 8 3.8%
10 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 8 3.8%
11 All other areas 73 34.8%
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 Monterey mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 99 47.1%
2 Arcing 21 10.0%
3 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 13 6.2%
4 Hot or smoldering object, other 13 6.2%
5 Hot ember or ash 13 6.2%
6 Heat from powered equipment, other 11 5.2%
7 Cigarette 8 3.8%
8 Cigarette lighter 8 3.8%
9 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 4 1.9%
10 Match 3 1.4%
11 All other sources 17 8.1%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $1.9M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Monterey departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,500,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $248,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $30,000 Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant Investigated
4 $30,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
5 $25,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
6 $15,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
7 $8,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $6,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Monterey compares

Monterey vs California vs the nation

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

8.4
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Monterey
8.4
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.27
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Monterey
0.27
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Monterey
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Monterey

8 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.

AgeCount 
0-9 0
10-19 0
20-29 0
30-39 2
40-49 3
50-59 2
60-69 1
70-79 0
80+ 0
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 2 FF 6
Gender
M 8 F 0 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
7
1
1
2
0
3
0
4
0
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Monterey

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 898,447 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2008 Natural 162,818 24.8 mi
2016 Recreation and ceremony 132,127 9.1 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 124,924 35.9 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 86,509 49.6 mi
2008 Recreation and ceremony 81,378 41.9 mi
1999 Natural 49,551 45.0 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 48,088 13.5 mi
2007 Recreation and ceremony 47,760 47.5 mi
2003 Natural 30,170 35.2 mi
1996 Arson/incendiarism 25,620 48.4 mi
1999 Natural 23,761 26.7 mi
1999 Natural 12,960 29.2 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Monterey do fires concentrate?

Top 7 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 93940 1,200
2 93950 19
3 93955 3
4 93908 2
5 93923 2
6 92940 1
7 94934 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Monterey

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