In 2025, fire departments serving Hackettstown responded to 76 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
287 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $90K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 66 | — | |
| 2023 | 46 | -30.3% | |
| 2024 | 78 | +69.6% | |
| 2025 | 76 | -2.6% |
* Well below Hackettstown'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 7 building fires Hackettstown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Assembly or sales area, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 20.8% |
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 Hackettstown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hackettstown departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Hazardous condition, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hackettstown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,781 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 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 33.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 43.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 44.1 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 Hackettstown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hackettstown.
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.