In 2025, fire departments serving Basking Ridge responded to 146 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
724 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $20K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 150 | — | |
| 2022 | 156 | +4.0% | |
| 2023 | 132 | -15.4% | |
| 2024 | 140 | +6.1% | |
| 2025 | 146 | +4.3% |
For the 8 building fires Basking Ridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 165 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 | Outside area, other | 29 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 16 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 39 | 23.6% |
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 Basking Ridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 81 | 49.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Basking Ridge departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,314 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Basking Ridge sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,926 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,949 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 42.1 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 Basking Ridge. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Basking Ridge.
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.