In 2025, fire departments serving Hampton responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
173 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $220K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | +45.8% | |
| 2023 | 45 | +28.6% | |
| 2024 | 47 | +4.4% | |
| 2025 | 22 | -53.2% |
For the 5 building fires Hampton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 17 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 | Undetermined | 9 | 52.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Structural area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 5.9% |
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 Hampton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 82.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 5.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hampton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 26,702 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 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 28.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 17.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 19.0 mi |
Top 5 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 Hampton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hampton.
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.