In 2025, fire departments serving Livingston responded to 218 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $800K building blaze. 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 79% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
730 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 94 | — | |
| 2022 | 147 | +56.4% | |
| 2023 | 148 | +0.7% | |
| 2024 | 123 | -16.9% | |
| 2025 | 218 | +77.2% |
For the 2 building fires Livingston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 | 24 | 30.4% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 20 | 25.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 10.1% |
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 Livingston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 29.1% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 21 | 26.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 22.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 1.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Livingston departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $800,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Livingston sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,108 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 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 29.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 20.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 34.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 36.7 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 | 07039 | 730 |
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Livingston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Livingston.
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.