In 2025, fire departments serving Babylon responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
215 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $575K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 51 | +70.0% | |
| 2023 | 43 | -15.7% | |
| 2024 | 46 | +7.0% | |
| 2025 | 45 | -2.2% |
For the 5 building fires Babylon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 29.3% | |
| 2 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 19.5% |
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 Babylon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 22.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 19.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Babylon sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,891 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,050 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 363 | 39.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 23.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 190 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 152 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 145 | 41.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 143 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 125 | 9.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 41.8 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Babylon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Babylon.
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.