In 2025, fire departments serving Avenel responded to 109 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
505 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61 | — | |
| 2022 | 98 | +60.7% | |
| 2023 | 90 | -8.2% | |
| 2024 | 147 | +63.3% | |
| 2025 | 109 | -25.9% |
For the 7 building fires Avenel departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 95 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 origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 44.2% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 8 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 9.5% |
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 Avenel mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 90 | 94.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 5 | Sunlight | 1 | 1.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Avenel sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 42,225 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 19,225 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,277 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 40.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Smoking | 702 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 571 | 48.1 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Avenel. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
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.