In 2025, fire departments serving Belvidere responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
134 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | -26.9% | |
| 2023 | 19 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 39 | +105.3% | |
| 2025 | 31 | -20.5% |
For the 2 building fires Belvidere departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 6 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 | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 16.7% |
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 Belvidere mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 16.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Belvidere sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,963 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 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,126 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 25.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 24.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 29.3 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 Belvidere. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Belvidere.
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.