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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Woodside, California

In 2025, fire departments serving Woodside responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C Peak yr 2021 San Mateo County 5,256 residents 0 reporting departments 382 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Woodside's departments reported 37 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 76 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
37
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
4
Residential 50% Other 50%
Property loss
$5K
$5K 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?

Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.

37
Total Incidents
Power line down 7 18.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 5 13.5%
Building fires 4 10.8%
Hazardous condition, other 4 10.8%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 4 10.8%
All other categories 13 35.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 2
Feb 4
Mar 3
Apr 3
May 2
Jun 6
Jul 2
Aug 1
Sep 2
Oct 6
Nov 2
Dec 4
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Woodside

382 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $145K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 129 —
2022 86 -33.3%
2023 102 +18.6%
2024* 28 —
2025* 37 —

* Well below Woodside'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 4 building fires Woodside departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

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

Where do fires start in Woodside?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 12 41.4%
2 Vehicle area, other 4 13.8%
3 Undetermined 4 13.8%
4 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 2 6.9%
5 Outside area, other 2 6.9%
6 Other 1 3.4%
7 Assembly area - less than 100 persons 1 3.4%
8 Cooking area, kitchen 1 3.4%
9 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 1 3.4%
10 Exterior, exposed surface 1 3.4%
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 Woodside mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Heat source: other 9 31.0%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 6 20.7%
3 Undetermined 5 17.2%
4 Hot or smoldering object, other 3 10.3%
5 Arcing 2 6.9%
6 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 1 3.4%
7 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 1 3.4%
8 Heat, spark from friction 1 3.4%
9 Chemical, natural heat source, other 1 3.4%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $5K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Woodside departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $5,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Woodside compares

Woodside vs California vs the nation

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

7.04
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Woodside
7.04
CA avg
5.32
US avg
7.48
0.76
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Woodside
0.76
CA avg
0.32
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Woodside
0
CA avg
2.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Woodside

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 606,082 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 37.9 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 86,509 11.6 mi
2007 Recreation and ceremony 47,760 44.2 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 12,200 42.1 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 7,817 19.3 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 6,744 38.9 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 5,513 49.4 mi
2003 Natural 5,018 46.2 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,474 31.9 mi
2020 Natural 4,279 40.3 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 4,270 26.6 mi
2020 Natural 3,730 37.8 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Woodside do fires concentrate?

Top 7 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 94062 373
2 94061 4
3 94020 1
4 94025 1
5 94027 1
6 94028 1
7 94063 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Woodside

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