In 2025, fire departments serving Brooklyn responded to 83 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $191K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
568 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 131 | — | |
| 2022 | 114 | -13.0% | |
| 2023 | 145 | +27.2% | |
| 2024 | 95 | -34.5% | |
| 2025 | 83 | -12.6% |
For the 9 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 150 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 27 | 18.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 22 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Other | 17 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 14 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 30 | 20.0% |
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 | 51 | 34.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 23 | 15.3% | |
| 3 | Match | 14 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brooklyn departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $191,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | 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. 1,699 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 154 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 142 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 11.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 48.9 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Brooklyn. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Brooklyn.
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.