In 2025, fire departments serving Brooklyn responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
134 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $140K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 26 | +30.0% | |
| 2023 | 26 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 32 | +23.1% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -6.2% |
For the 0 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 30 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 | 6 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 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 | 16 | 53.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brooklyn departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | 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. 7,562 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 7.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 19.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 46.2 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Wisconsin 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.