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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Sausalito, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Sausalito responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B Peak yr 2021 Marin County 7,233 residents 0 reporting departments 308 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Sausalito's departments reported 27 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 62 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
27
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
9
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.

27
Total Incidents
Building fires 9 33.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 3 11.1%
Chemical hazard (no spill or leak) 3 11.1%
Power line down 3 11.1%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 2 7.4%
All other categories 7 25.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 1
Feb 0
Mar 0
Apr 2
May 3
Jun 4
Jul 2
Aug 2
Sep 3
Oct 4
Nov 4
Dec 2
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Sausalito

308 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $202K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 117 —
2022 106 -9.4%
2023* 25 —
2024* 33 —
2025* 27 —

* Well below Sausalito'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 9 building fires Sausalito departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
33%
3
Cause undetermined
33%
3
Intentional / arson
11%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
22%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Sausalito?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 86 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 26 30.2%
2 Outside area, other 15 17.4%
3 Vehicle area, other 8 9.3%
4 Other 7 8.1%
5 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 5 5.8%
6 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 4 4.7%
7 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 3 3.5%
8 Exterior, exposed surface 3 3.5%
9 Cooking area, kitchen 2 2.3%
10 Wildland, woods 2 2.3%
11 All other areas 11 12.8%
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 Sausalito mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 62 72.1%
2 Arcing 4 4.7%
3 Hot ember or ash 4 4.7%
4 Heat source: other 3 3.5%
5 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 2 2.3%
6 Hot or smoldering object, other 2 2.3%
7 Molten, hot material 2 2.3%
8 Match 2 2.3%
9 Cigarette lighter 2 2.3%
10 Heat from powered equipment, other 1 1.2%
11 All other sources 2 2.3%
05 How Sausalito compares

Sausalito vs California vs the nation

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

3.73
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Sausalito
3.73
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
1.24
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Sausalito
1.24
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Sausalito
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Sausalito

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 643,075 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2020 Natural 305,651 45.4 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 86,509 44.1 mi
2020 Equipment and vehicle use 67,484 48.1 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 56,556 38.1 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 51,624 39.3 mi
1995 Recreation and ceremony 12,354 26.0 mi
2015 Equipment and vehicle use 8,051 49.3 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 50.0 mi
2014 Fireworks 6,488 49.9 mi
2016 Equipment and vehicle use 5,731 46.6 mi
2020 Natural 5,000 48.2 mi
2020 Natural 4,929 21.8 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Sausalito do fires concentrate?

Top 6 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 94965 303
2 94901 1
3 94923 1
4 94941 1
5 94960 1
6 94962 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Sausalito

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