In 2025, fire departments serving Lopatcong responded to 78 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K building blaze. 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 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
228 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $74K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 19 | — | |
| 2022* | 17 | — | |
| 2023 | 87 | — | |
| 2024* | 27 | — | |
| 2025 | 78 | — |
* Well below Lopatcong's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 5 building fires Lopatcong departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 | 26 | 43.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 23.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Closet | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 3.3% |
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 Lopatcong mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 10 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Match | 7 | 11.7% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Sunlight | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lopatcong departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lopatcong sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,430 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 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 31.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 38.7 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 | 08865 | 228 |
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Lopatcong. 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.