In 2025, fire departments serving Mountain View responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $224K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
485 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 111 | — | |
| 2022 | 97 | -12.6% | |
| 2023 | 90 | -7.2% | |
| 2024 | 95 | +5.6% | |
| 2025 | 92 | -3.2% |
For the 12 building fires Mountain View departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 249 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 | Undetermined | 206 | 82.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 9 | 3.6% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 1.2% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 2 | 0.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 0.8% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 0.8% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 2.8% |
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 Mountain View mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 232 | 93.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 1.2% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 0.8% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 0.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.4% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 0.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.4% | |
| 9 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 0.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mountain View departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $224,100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $205,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $134,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $27,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mountain View sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 118,683 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25,000 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18,000 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,000 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,138 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,500 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 4,930 | 17.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,700 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,572 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 3,407 | 13.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,640 | 49.4 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Hawaii cities with population within ±25% of Mountain View. 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.