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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Westmont, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Westmont responded to 468 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 C+ Peak yr 2024 Los Angeles County 35,345 residents 0 reporting departments 1,680 5-yr
Total incidents
468
-13.0% vs 2024
Building fires
27
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$313K
$260K structure · $53K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.

468
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 315 67.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 50 10.7%
Building fires 27 5.8%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 18 3.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 16 3.4%
All other categories 42 9.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 57
Feb 25
Mar 37
Apr 41
May 25
Jun 41
Jul 55
Aug 48
Sep 49
Oct 41
Nov 34
Dec 15
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Westmont

1,680 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $814K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 0 —
2022* 170 —
2023 504 —
2024 538 +6.7%
2025 468 -13.0%

* Well below Westmont'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 27 building fires Westmont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
28%
24
Cause undetermined
39%
33
Intentional / arson
22%
19
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
6
Under investigation
1%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
1
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Westmont?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 344 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 105 30.5%
2 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 37 10.8%
3 Vehicle area, other 27 7.8%
4 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 19 5.5%
5 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 18 5.2%
6 Cooking area, kitchen 14 4.1%
7 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 13 3.8%
8 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 12 3.5%
9 Outside area, other 11 3.2%
10 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 10 2.9%
11 All other areas 78 22.7%
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 Westmont mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 184 53.5%
2 Arcing 34 9.9%
3 Heat source: other 31 9.0%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 23 6.7%
5 Hot or smoldering object, other 12 3.5%
6 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 9 2.6%
7 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 9 2.6%
8 Cigarette lighter 7 2.0%
9 Heat from undetermined smoking material 6 1.7%
10 Incendiary device 4 1.2%
11 All other sources 25 7.3%
04 The biggest fires

7 fires · $260K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Westmont departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $200,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
2 $33,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
3 $12,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
4 $12,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
5 $1,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
6 $1,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
7 $500 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Westmont compares

Westmont vs California vs the nation

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

13.24
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Westmont
13.24
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.76
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Westmont
0.76
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Westmont
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Westmont

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,139,482 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 21.8 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 115,997 28.9 mi
2003 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 108,204 37.1 mi
2018 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 96,949 30.7 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 63,720 45.9 mi
2003 Arson/incendiarism 59,788 49.5 mi
2007 Power generation/transmission/distribution 45,300 49.1 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 41,432 34.1 mi
2007 Misuse of fire by a minor 38,356 40.3 mi
1993 Arson/incendiarism 38,152 35.9 mi
2002 Arson/incendiarism 37,240 35.5 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 30,305 32.6 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Westmont do fires concentrate?

Top 1 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 90044 1,680
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Westmont

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