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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Sierra Madre, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Sierra Madre responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2022 Los Angeles County 11,151 residents 0 reporting departments 341 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Sierra Madre's departments reported 17 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 68 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
17
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
3
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 71% of all calls.

17
Total Incidents
Building fires 3 17.6%
Power line down 3 17.6%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 2 11.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 2 11.8%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 2 11.8%
All other categories 5 29.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 6
Feb 1
Mar 3
Apr 3
May 0
Jun 0
Jul 3
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 1
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Sierra Madre

341 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $18K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 89 —
2022 123 +38.2%
2023 62 -49.6%
2024 50 -19.4%
2025* 17 —

* Well below Sierra Madre'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 3 building fires Sierra Madre departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Sierra Madre?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 17 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 Cooking area, kitchen 6 35.3%
2 Outside area, other 4 23.5%
3 Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room 2 11.8%
4 Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage 1 5.9%
5 Switchgear area, transformer vault 1 5.9%
6 Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch 1 5.9%
7 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 1 5.9%
8 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 1 5.9%
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 Sierra Madre mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Heat from powered equipment, other 2 11.8%
2 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 2 11.8%
3 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 2 11.8%
4 Arcing 2 11.8%
5 Heat, spark from friction 2 11.8%
6 Hot ember or ash 1 5.9%
7 Heat from undetermined smoking material 1 5.9%
8 Flame/torch used for lighting 1 5.9%
9 Chemical reaction 1 5.9%
10 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 1 5.9%
11 All other sources 2 11.8%
05 How Sierra Madre compares

Sierra Madre vs California vs the nation

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

1.52
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Sierra Madre
1.52
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.27
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Sierra Madre
0.27
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Sierra Madre
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Sierra Madre

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,237,653 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2009 Arson/incendiarism 160,371 9.4 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 7.6 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 38.3 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 37.4 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 91,281 44.3 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 46.0 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 32.5 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 45,300 46.3 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 27.1 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 29.4 mi
1993 Arson/incendiarism 38,152 46.7 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 15.6 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Sierra Madre do fires concentrate?

Top 4 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 91024 337
2 91107 2
3 90124 1
4 91006 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Sierra Madre

Six California cities with population within ±25% of Sierra Madre. 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.