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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in San Bruno, California

In 2025, fire departments serving San Bruno responded to 183 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2023 San Mateo County 43,218 residents 0 reporting departments 861 5-yr
Total incidents
183
-6.2% vs 2024
Building fires
15
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$512K
$432K structure · $80K 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 55% of all calls.

183
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 32 17.5%
Power line down 30 16.4%
Building fires 15 8.2%
Hazardous condition, other 12 6.6%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 11 6.0%
All other categories 83 45.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 17
Feb 23
Mar 20
Apr 14
May 12
Jun 14
Jul 22
Aug 12
Sep 7
Oct 10
Nov 11
Dec 21
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in San Bruno

861 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.0M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 161 —
2022* 96 —
2023 226 —
2024 195 -13.7%
2025 183 -6.2%

* Well below San Bruno'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 15 building fires San Bruno departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
42%
11
Cause undetermined
27%
7
Intentional / arson
12%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
4
Under investigation
4%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in San Bruno?

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 19 14.5%
2 Undetermined 18 13.7%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 16 12.2%
4 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 11 8.4%
5 Cooking area, kitchen 10 7.6%
6 Vehicle area, other 8 6.1%
7 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 7 5.3%
8 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 7 5.3%
9 Other 6 4.6%
10 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 5 3.8%
11 All other areas 24 18.3%
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 San Bruno mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 44 33.6%
2 Hot or smoldering object, other 13 9.9%
3 Arcing 11 8.4%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 10 7.6%
5 Heat source: other 9 6.9%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 8 6.1%
7 Fireworks 4 3.1%
8 Cigarette 4 3.1%
9 Heat from undetermined smoking material 4 3.1%
10 Cigarette lighter 4 3.1%
11 All other sources 20 15.3%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $421K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by San Bruno departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
2 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
3 $70,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
4 $20,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
5 $11,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
6 $10,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
7 $5,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
8 $5,000 Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other Significant Investigated
05 How San Bruno compares

San Bruno vs California vs the nation

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

4.23
Incidents per 1,000 residents
San Bruno
4.23
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.35
Building fires per 1,000 residents
San Bruno
0.35
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
San Bruno
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of San Bruno

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 562,715 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 396,624 49.3 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 86,509 28.0 mi
1995 Recreation and ceremony 12,354 39.8 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,200 48.9 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,817 35.6 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 44.8 mi
2020 Natural 4,929 35.1 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,474 48.6 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,270 43.5 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,200 48.2 mi
2013 Firearms and explosives use 3,100 36.0 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 3,000 48.6 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in San Bruno 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 94066 848
2 94080 6
3 94128 5
4 94019 1
5 94030 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to San Bruno

Six California cities with population within ±25% of San Bruno. 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.