In 2025, fire departments serving Flanders responded to 100 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. 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 75% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
417 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $120K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 29 | — | |
| 2022 | 72 | — | |
| 2023 | 89 | +23.6% | |
| 2024 | 127 | +42.7% | |
| 2025 | 100 | -21.3% |
* Well below Flanders'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 3 building fires Flanders departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 84 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 | Outside area, other | 25 | 29.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 20.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Separate operator/control area of transportation | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 20.2% |
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 Flanders mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 10 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Match | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Flanders departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Carbon monoxide incident | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Flanders sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,272 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,949 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 38.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 39.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 38.6 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 Flanders. 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.