In 2025, fire departments serving Boonton responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Boonton's departments reported 25 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 59 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
295 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $263K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42 | — | |
| 2022* | 26 | — | |
| 2023 | 100 | — | |
| 2024 | 102 | +2.0% | |
| 2025* | 25 | — |
* Well below Boonton's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 building fires Boonton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 56 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 | 11 | 19.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 8.9% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 17.9% |
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 Boonton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 64.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Candle | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Boonton departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Boonton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,127 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 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 26.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 25.4 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 07005 | 295 |
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Boonton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Boonton.
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.