In 2025, fire departments serving Bordentown responded to 69 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $6K 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 65% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
541 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $646K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 117 | — | |
| 2022 | 179 | +53.0% | |
| 2023* | 51 | — | |
| 2024 | 125 | — | |
| 2025 | 69 | -44.8% |
* Well below Bordentown'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 4 building fires Bordentown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | 10 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 8 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 12.5% |
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 Bordentown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 62.5% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bordentown departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,815 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bordentown sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 105,947 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 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 17,050 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11,765 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 29.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,284 | 30.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,832 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 15.3 mi |
Top 5 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 Bordentown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bordentown.
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.