In 2025, fire departments serving Essex Fells responded to 26 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 92% of all calls.
Nov peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
102 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | — | |
| 2023 | 30 | +76.5% | |
| 2024 | 24 | -20.0% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +8.3% |
* Well below Essex Fells'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 0 building fires Essex Fells departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 5.6% |
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 Essex Fells mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 5.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Essex Fells sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,006 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 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 25.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 28.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 23.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 36.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 33.0 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 Essex Fells. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Essex Fells.
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.