In 2025, fire departments serving Metuchen responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Metuchen's departments reported 17 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 37 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
184 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | -6.4% | |
| 2023 | 66 | +50.0% | |
| 2024* | 10 | — | |
| 2025* | 17 | — |
* Well below Metuchen'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 2 building fires Metuchen departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | 16 | 38.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 14.3% |
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 Metuchen mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 52.4% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Incendiary device | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 7.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Metuchen sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 55,549 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 19,225 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,284 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,832 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,277 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,012 | 47.1 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 | 08840 | 184 |
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Metuchen. 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.