In 2025, fire departments serving Kinnelon responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $650K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
273 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45 | — | |
| 2022 | 55 | +22.2% | |
| 2023 | 44 | -20.0% | |
| 2024 | 66 | +50.0% | |
| 2025 | 63 | -4.5% |
For the 8 building fires Kinnelon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 20 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 | 6 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 5.0% |
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 Kinnelon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 45.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kinnelon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $650,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Overheated motor | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $150 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kinnelon sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,905 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 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 46.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 19.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 21.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 24.4 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 07405 | 273 |
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Kinnelon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kinnelon.
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.