In 2025, fire departments serving Monterey County responded to 2,985 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 42% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Apr dips.
16,298 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3,229 | |
| 2022 | 2,946 | |
| 2023 | 3,427 | |
| 2024 | 3,711 | |
| 2025 | 2,985 |
For the 133 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Monterey County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 55% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | MONTEREY | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $1,500,000 | SOUTH COUNTY | Outside equipment fire | Major |
| 3 | $1,127,227 | SALINAS | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $1,000,000 | Parkfield | Outside storage fire | Major |
| 5 | $780,000 | MONTEREY COUNTY | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $750,000 | Salinas | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $700,000 | SALINAS | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $600,000 | MARINA | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $500,000 | CARMEL BY THE SEA | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $500,000 | PRUNEDALE | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 06053.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Salinas | 162,783 | View › |
| Seaside | 32,291 | View › |
| Monterey | 30,007 | View › |
| Soledad | 24,781 | View › |
| Marina | 22,253 | View › |
| Prunedale | 19,372 | View › |
| Greenfield | 18,998 | View › |
| Pacific Grove | 15,098 | View › |
| King City | 13,471 | View › |
| Gonzales | 8,581 | View › |
| Castroville | 6,620 | View › |
| Carmel Valley Village | 4,642 | View › |
19 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.