In 2025, fire departments serving Little Falls responded to 103 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
402 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55 | — | |
| 2022 | 66 | +20.0% | |
| 2023 | 67 | +1.5% | |
| 2024 | 111 | +65.7% | |
| 2025 | 103 | -7.2% |
For the 5 building fires Little Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 53 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 | 8 | 15.1% | |
| 2 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 8 | Corridor, mall | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 24.5% |
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 Little Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 56.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 1.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Little Falls sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,002 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 46.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 21.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 24.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 27.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 28.6 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 | 07424 | 402 |
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Little Falls. 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.