Home› California› Pacifica
2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Pacifica, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Pacifica responded to 89 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2023 San Mateo County 38,048 residents 0 reporting departments 745 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Pacifica's departments reported 89 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 149 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
89
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
4
Residential 50% Other 50%
Property loss
$12K
$10K structure · $2K 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 56% of all calls.

89
Total Incidents
Power line down 19 21.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 10 11.2%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 8 9.0%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 7 7.9%
Carbon monoxide incident 6 6.7%
All other categories 39 43.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 1
Feb 9
Mar 6
Apr 3
May 1
Jun 7
Jul 4
Aug 6
Sep 11
Oct 10
Nov 24
Dec 7
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Pacifica

745 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.8M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 146 —
2022 133 -8.9%
2023 212 +59.4%
2024 165 -22.2%
2025* 89 —

* Well below Pacifica'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 4 building fires Pacifica departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
60%
3
Cause undetermined
40%
2
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Pacifica?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 131 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 27 20.6%
2 Cooking area, kitchen 21 16.0%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 10 7.6%
4 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 7 5.3%
5 Other 6 4.6%
6 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 6 4.6%
7 Wildland, woods 6 4.6%
8 Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch 5 3.8%
9 Vehicle area, other 5 3.8%
10 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 5 3.8%
11 All other areas 33 25.2%
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 Pacifica mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 36 27.5%
2 Fireworks 17 13.0%
3 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 12 9.2%
4 Hot or smoldering object, other 11 8.4%
5 Heat source: other 10 7.6%
6 Heat from powered equipment, other 10 7.6%
7 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 7 5.3%
8 Arcing 6 4.6%
9 Cigarette lighter 5 3.8%
10 Cigarette 4 3.1%
11 All other sources 13 9.9%
04 The biggest fires

2 fires · $10K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pacifica departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $10,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
2 $50 Trash or rubbish fire, contained Significant Investigated
05 How Pacifica compares

Pacifica vs California vs the nation

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

2.34
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Pacifica
2.34
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.11
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Pacifica
0.11
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Pacifica
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Pacifica

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 154,762 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 28.3 mi
1995 Recreation and ceremony 12,354 39.1 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,817 35.7 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 47.4 mi
2020 Natural 4,929 34.3 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,474 49.7 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,270 44.4 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,200 49.8 mi
2013 Firearms and explosives use 3,100 38.7 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 3,000 48.9 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,850 49.2 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 1,660 37.4 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Pacifica do fires concentrate?

Top 3 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 94044 743
2 94015 1
3 94066 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Pacifica

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