In 2025, fire departments serving Farmingdale responded to 99 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 55% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
483 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $622K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64 | — | |
| 2022 | 103 | +60.9% | |
| 2023 | 121 | +17.5% | |
| 2024 | 96 | -20.7% | |
| 2025 | 99 | +3.1% |
For the 11 building fires Farmingdale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Interior stairway or ramp | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Egress/exit, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 19.0% |
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 Farmingdale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 4.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Farmingdale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,842 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,050 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 363 | 33.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 230 | 49.1 mi |
Top 9 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Farmingdale. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Farmingdale.
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.