Saratoga, Los Gatos & Monte Sereno Fire Hazard Zones: How Many Houses Are in Each, Neighborhood by Neighborhood

CAL FIRE maps how severe the wildfire hazard is across California, in three classes: Moderate, High and Very High. We checked every single-family house parcel in Saratoga (9,791), Los Gatos (7,673) and Monte Sereno (1,261) against those maps and counted, neighborhood guide by neighborhood guide, how many fall in each zone. The parcel records are the county assessor’s, published by each city and town; we pulled CAL FIRE’s map data and the parcels in October 2026. There are no addresses here.

The short answer

• Saratoga: 574 of 9,791 houses (6%) are in a Very High zone and 490 (5%) in a High zone; 395 more (4%) are Moderate, and 8,332 (85%) are outside the mapped zones.
• Los Gatos: 404 of 7,673 houses (5%) are in a Very High zone and 1,484 (19%) in a High zone; 777 more (10%) are Moderate, and 5,008 (65%) are outside the mapped zones.
• Monte Sereno: 49 of 1,261 houses (4%) are in a Very High zone and 70 (6%) in a High zone; 61 more (5%) are Moderate, and 1,081 (86%) are outside the mapped zones.
• Where they are: in Saratoga, Saratoga Foothills (252 Very High, 321 High) and Montalvo & Horseshoe (284 Very High, 57 High); in Los Gatos, Blossom Hill (0 Very High, 659 High) and Shannon & Kennedy Road hills (13 Very High, 284 High); in Monte Sereno, El Sereno Hillside (48 Very High, 55 High).
• No High or Very High houses in 9 Saratoga neighborhoods, 8 Los Gatos neighborhoods and 3 Monte Sereno areas (listed in the tables).

Saratoga

Single-family houses inside each guide’s outline, by the highest zone that touches any part of the parcel; most High and Very High first.

The “All of Saratoga” row also counts the 41 houses outside the neighborhoods above, 23 of them in a High or Very High zone.

Los Gatos

Same method. University-Edelen sits inside our Downtown Los Gatos guide, so its houses count in both.

The “All of Los Gatos” row also counts the 411 houses outside the neighborhoods above, 123 of them in a High or Very High zone.

Monte Sereno

Same method, by area.

The “All of Monte Sereno” row also counts the 159 houses outside the neighborhoods above, 16 of them in a High or Very High zone.

What stands out

• The most High and Very High houses are in Blossom Hill (659), Saratoga Foothills (573), Montalvo & Horseshoe (341) and Shannon & Kennedy Road hills (297), all along the foothills.
• Close to downtown too. All 46 houses in our Broadway guide, next to downtown Los Gatos, touch a Very High zone.
• Many large neighborhoods have none in a High or Very High zone, among them Golden Triangle, Sobey & Marshall Lane, Los Gatos Blvd & North 40, La Rinconada, Quito & El Quito Park and Prides Crossing.

What the zones mean

• Hazard, not risk. CAL FIRE’s Office of the State Fire Marshal says the maps describe hazard: the physical conditions, like vegetation, terrain, fire history, embers and typical fire weather, over 30 to 50 years. They don’t count home hardening, defensible space or fuel reduction, which change the risk to a particular home (OSFM).
• Two kinds of map. Inside city and town limits (Local Responsibility Areas) we used CAL FIRE’s 2025 map; on unincorporated land where the state is responsible for wildfire protection (State Responsibility Areas), its State Responsibility Area map. Land outside the three classes is shown as non-wildland or unzoned (OSFM).
• What a zone can bring. Depending on the zone and the kind of area, stricter building standards for new construction and additions, defensible-space rules, and a line on the seller’s natural hazard disclosure. The city or town’s building department can say which apply to a specific address.

Reading it right

• We counted the highest zone that touches any part of each parcel. Counting by the center of each parcel instead gives 490 Very High and 494 High houses in Saratoga, 367 Very High and 1,364 High houses in Los Gatos and 36 Very High and 70 High houses in Monte Sereno.
• Neighborhood rows count every single-family parcel inside our guide’s outline, including some just over a city line (about 615 unincorporated county parcels in Blossom Hill, for example); the city rows count only parcels inside the city limits. Our Santa Cruz Mountains guide is left out because the town’s parcel layer covers only part of it.
• The zone describes the land around a house, not how the house is built or how the lot is kept.
• Check the address. CAL FIRE’s zone viewer shows any parcel, and a seller’s natural hazard disclosure report states the zones for that property.
• Only single-family houses are counted (the county assessor’s single-family use code).

Go deeper

Saratoga Neighborhoods by Their Houses and Los Gatos & Monte Sereno Neighborhoods by Their Houses use the same records for age, size, lots and stories. Flood & Fire Zones by Neighborhood has the same counts for every guide we write, and Los Altos Hills Fire Hazard Severity Zones covers the town next door to the north. The Saratoga, Los Gatos and Monte Sereno city guides link every neighborhood guide.

Buying or selling in a fire zone?

A Property Nerd can pull the zone, the disclosure report and the recent sales closest to a specific home before you write an offer or set a price. Call (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or book a strategy call. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.