Fontana, California
39 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1896 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the San Bernardino census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92335. The Survey maps it on the Fontana quadrangle. 208,393 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,237 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1896 to 1982The same ground, surveyed 86 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Compare 1896 against another survey:
On record in Fontana
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Bono's Restaurant and Delilisted 2008
Fontana Farms Company Ranch House, Camp No. 1listed 1982
Population over time
2 figuresFontana grew from 196,069 to 208,393 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 196,069 | |
| 2020 | 208,393 | +12,324 (+6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
17 surveys from 39 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1896 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:62500
- 1898 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:62500
- 1901 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:62500, 8 printings
- 1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1942 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:62500
- 1943 USGS Fontana quadrangle1:31680, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Fontana quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Fontana quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1982 USGS San Bernardino quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
454 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 454 fires within 5 miles of Fontana between 1992 and 2020, burning about 24,603 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 65 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 279 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 65 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 62 |
| Smoking | 20 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 16 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Natural | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2020 | Smoking | under an acre | San Bernardino Unit | not named |
| 7 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,007 acres | San Bernardino National Forest | RUNWAY |
| 6 September 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | San Bernardino Unit | not named |
| 6 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 6 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | San Bernardino Unit | BLAKE |
| 30 September 2009 | Smoking | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 30 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.5 acres | Riverside Unit | SERRIA FIRE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 12 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Fontana: 10 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Marble, Dimension. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jensen's Quarry | Marble, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Jensens Quarry | Marble, Dimension | Producer | Metamorphic | |
| Declezville Granulite | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Raney Borrow Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Stringfellow Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Bloomington Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Colton Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Fontana Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Lytle Creek Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| San Bernardino Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
23 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fontana in 23 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 5 flood, 5 wildfire, 4 heavy rain, 3 lightning. The reports record 1 death and 38 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2009 | Lightning | Fontana | 1 killed, $1,000 | A was 40 year old female was struck and killed by lightning around 1530 PST while she was standing under a tree along the 8600 block of Bennett Avenue in Fontana. Some concrete nearby may have also been damaged due to the strike.||Six men were leaning against a metal fence near Electric Avenue and 40th Street in San Bernardino when lightning struck nearby. All six appeared to have suffered electrical burns. Four of the six were administered medical treatment by firefighters as a precaution. |
| October 2003 | Wildfire | Fontana | 35 hurt, $50,000,000 | no account filed |
| February 2003 | Flood | Fontana | 2 hurt, $300,000 | no account filed |
| October 2010 | Lightning | Fontana | 1 hurt | A construction worker suffered minor burns when lightning struck a nearby crane at the Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center at 0842 PST on October 1. The 50-year old man was thrown to the ground as a result of the strike. His injuries are non-life-threatening. |
| October 2004 | Flash Flood | Fontana | $1,000,000 | Widespread flooding occured in the vicinity of Interstate 10 and Etiwanda Ave. Vehciles caught in the flood waters reportedly floated away and minor flooding damaged homes along Etiwanda Ave. Nearby, the San Sevaine flood-control channel overflowed and washed out some railroad tracks, resulting in the derailment of three cars of a Union Pacific freight train. The derailment and flooding forced the shutdown of two gas pipelines that supply jet fuel from Southern California to Phoenix and Las Vegas. |
| February 2003 | Heavy Rain | Fontana | $100,000 | no account filed |
| January 2010 | Heavy Rain | Fontana | $75,000 | Heavy rain caused minor flooding in areas with poor drainage in Fontana and Redlands. In Fontana, a home was filled with several inches of water after sandbags surrounding the home failed. In Redlands, a clogged drain caused an apartment parking lot to flood, damaging several cars. |
| October 2012 | Heavy Rain | Fontana | $50,000 | A warehouse roof collapsed on the 11000 block of Mulberry Avenue in Fontana due to accumulation of over 1 foot of water. Drains were plugged allowing the water to accumulate. An alert gauge approximately 2 miles north of the location reported 1.02 inches of rain in 25 minutes between 1545 and 1610 PST. |
| July 2001 | Lightning | Fontana | $25,000 | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Tornado (F0) | Fontana | $20,000 | A brief tornado touched down in Fontana on Elm Street and blew roof shingles off three homes, ripped the roof off a water well building, felled several trees, and brought down powerlines. The tornado was accompanied by pea and marble-sized hail. |
| December 2004 | Flash Flood | Fontana | $10,000 | Flash Flooding closed Etiwanda Ave. |
| January 2005 | Flash Flood | Fontana | $5,000 | no account filed |
| November 2025 | Flood | South Fontana | - | Dept of Highways reported number 1 lane of eastbound I-10 flooded east of Etiwanda Avenue. Nearby rain gauges reported around 0.25 inch between midnight and 1 am. |
| February 2023 | Debris Flow | Fontana | - | The Department of Highways reported flooding and mud along the Duncan Canyon Road offramp, with two vehicles stopped and on vehicle in two feet of mud. |
| March 2023 | Flood | South Fontana | - | Report from CalTrans: #3 and #5 lanes on I-10 East at Cherry Ave Exit were flooded due to heavy rainfall. |
| December 2021 | Heavy Rain | Fontana | - | Mesonet RLOC1 Rialto reports 3.9 inches of rainfall in the past 24 hours. |
| December 2011 | Funnel Cloud | Fontana | - | Two funnel clouds estimated 10 miles to the north of the spotter, who is located in Riverside near Jarupa Avenue and Grand Avenue. |
| December 2002 | Flood | Fontana | - | no account filed |
| February 2002 | Wildfire | Fontana | - | no account filed |
| January 2001 | Wildfire | Fontana | - | no account filed |
| October 2001 | Wildfire | Fontana | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Wildfire | Fontana | - | no account filed |
| October 1998 | Flood | Fontana | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailsa (historical) | 1.8 miles | 39 | |
| San Sevaine (historical) | 2.4 miles | 39 | |
| Bloomington | 2.6 miles | 39 | |
| Walnut Ridge | 2.9 miles | 41 | |
| Kaiser | 2.9 miles | 39 | |
| Declez | 3.2 miles | 39 | |
| South Fontana | 3.5 miles | 39 | |
| La Cuesta Fontana | 3.5 miles | 41 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Fontana | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q491128 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1652711. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
















