In 2025, fire departments serving Hillside responded to 229 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
788 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $750K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 158 | — | |
| 2022 | 145 | -8.2% | |
| 2023* | 40 | — | |
| 2024 | 216 | — | |
| 2025 | 229 | +6.0% |
* Well below Hillside'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 12 building fires Hillside departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 73 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 | 14 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 12 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 11 | 15.1% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 6 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 20.5% |
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 Hillside mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 37.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 21 | 28.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 5.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hillside departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $55,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $24,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $22,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hillside sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,985 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 50.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 536 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 15.4 mi |
Top 3 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 Hillside. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hillside.
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.