In 2025, fire departments serving Franklin responded to 33 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 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
229 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022* | 19 | — | |
| 2023 | 38 | — | |
| 2024 | 95 | +150.0% | |
| 2025 | 33 | -65.3% |
* Well below Franklin'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 6 building fires Franklin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 49 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 | 9 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 22.4% |
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 Franklin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 28 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Sunlight | 1 | 2.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Franklin sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 67,460 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 19,225 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 49.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,284 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,832 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,277 | 41.7 mi |
Top 10 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 Franklin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Franklin.
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.