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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in San Miguel, California

In 2025, fire departments serving San Miguel responded to 265 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C Peak yr 2025 Contra Costa County 4,004 residents 0 reporting departments 484 5-yr
Total incidents
265
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
22
Residential 64% Other 36%
Property loss
$7.7M
$5.2M structure · $2.5M contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 42% of all calls.

265
Total Incidents
Cooking fire, confined to container 29 10.9%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 23 8.7%
Building fires 22 8.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 20 7.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 18 6.8%
All other categories 153 57.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 31
Feb 21
Mar 17
Apr 14
May 24
Jun 12
Jul 25
Aug 29
Sep 10
Oct 27
Nov 27
Dec 28
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in San Miguel

484 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.2M cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 45 —
2022 91 —
2023* 37 —
2024* 46 —
2025 265 —

* Well below San Miguel'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 22 building fires San Miguel departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
41%
19
Cause undetermined
26%
12
Intentional / arson
7%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
4
Under investigation
17%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in San Miguel?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 77 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 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 18 23.4%
2 Undetermined 18 23.4%
3 Outside area, other 9 11.7%
4 Vehicle area, other 4 5.2%
5 Other 3 3.9%
6 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 3 3.9%
7 Structural area, other 3 3.9%
8 Cooking area, kitchen 2 2.6%
9 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 2 2.6%
10 Exterior, exposed surface 2 2.6%
11 All other areas 13 16.9%
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 Miguel mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 46 59.7%
2 Heat source: other 10 13.0%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 8 10.4%
4 Hot ember or ash 4 5.2%
5 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 2 2.6%
6 Heat from undetermined smoking material 2 2.6%
7 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 1 1.3%
8 Arcing 1 1.3%
9 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 1 1.3%
10 Match 1 1.3%
11 All other sources 1 1.3%
04 The biggest fires

8 fires · $4.8M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by San Miguel departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $2,000,000 Building fires Major Investigated
2 $900,000 Fires in structures other than in a building Major Investigated
3 $800,000 Building fires Major Investigated
4 $500,000 Building fires Major Investigated
5 $250,000 Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Major Investigated
6 $150,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
7 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
8 $100,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How San Miguel compares

San Miguel vs California vs the nation

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

66.18
Incidents per 1,000 residents
San Miguel
66.18
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
5.49
Building fires per 1,000 residents
San Miguel
5.49
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
San Miguel
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of San Miguel

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,000,126 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 41.0 mi
2020 Natural 305,651 45.7 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 86,509 44.5 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 56,556 43.1 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,624 36.7 mi
1995 Recreation and ceremony 12,354 47.6 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,200 32.4 mi
2015 Equipment and vehicle use 8,051 43.0 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 6,804 41.4 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 28.0 mi
2014 Fireworks 6,488 43.4 mi
2000 Equipment and vehicle use 5,731 47.3 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in San Miguel do fires concentrate?

Top 9 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 91977 277
2 92021 87
3 92019 32
4 91978 24
5 91941 18
6 93451 16
7 91935 14
8 92020 12
9 91902 4
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to San Miguel

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