In 2025, fire departments serving Brooklyn responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K 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 89% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
96 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $79K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | +58.8% | |
| 2023 | 22 | -18.5% | |
| 2024* | 11 | — | |
| 2025 | 19 | — |
* Well below Brooklyn'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 Brooklyn departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | 7 | 46.7% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Vacant structural area | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Brooklyn mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 73.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brooklyn departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brooklyn sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,541 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 29.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 270 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 56 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 37.0 mi |
Top 8 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Brooklyn. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.