In 2025, fire departments serving Hopelawn responded to 192 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 80% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
827 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 144 | — | |
| 2022 | 109 | -24.3% | |
| 2023 | 147 | +34.9% | |
| 2024 | 235 | +59.9% | |
| 2025 | 192 | -18.3% |
For the 12 building fires Hopelawn 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 | Undetermined | 33 | 68.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 6 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 6.2% |
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 Hopelawn mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 46 | 95.8% | |
| 2 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 3 | Candle | 1 | 2.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hopelawn sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 55,099 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 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,284 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,832 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,277 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,012 | 46.7 mi |
Top 4 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 Hopelawn. 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.