In 2025, fire departments serving Branchburg responded to 66 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 62% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
291 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | +17.5% | |
| 2023* | 23 | — | |
| 2024 | 65 | — | |
| 2025 | 66 | +1.5% |
* Well below Branchburg'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 8 building fires Branchburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 12 | 41.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Closet | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Incinerator area | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.4% |
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 Branchburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 65.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Branchburg sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 44,611 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 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Smoking | 702 | 46.5 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 Branchburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Branchburg.
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.