In 2025, fire departments serving Caldwell responded to 32 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 81% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
206 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 47 | +6.8% | |
| 2023 | 68 | +44.7% | |
| 2024* | 15 | — | |
| 2025 | 32 | — |
* Well below Caldwell'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 2 building fires Caldwell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | Other | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 1 | 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 Caldwell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 1 | 12.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Caldwell sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,992 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 24.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 27.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 32.2 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 New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Caldwell. 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.