In 2025, fire departments serving Lambertville responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
455 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 86 | — | |
| 2022 | 88 | +2.3% | |
| 2023 | 101 | +14.8% | |
| 2024 | 94 | -6.9% | |
| 2025 | 86 | -8.5% |
For the 10 building fires Lambertville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 84 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 | Outside area, other | 13 | 15.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 12 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 21.4% |
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 Lambertville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 34 | 40.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Match | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 13.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lambertville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lambertville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,011 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 27.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 7.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 12.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 21 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 25.8 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 Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Lambertville. 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.