In 2025, fire departments serving Morristown responded to 185 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.7M 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 64% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,184 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 188 | — | |
| 2022 | 238 | +26.6% | |
| 2023 | 250 | +5.0% | |
| 2024 | 323 | +29.2% | |
| 2025 | 185 | -42.7% |
For the 11 building fires Morristown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 126 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 12 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 27.0% |
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 Morristown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 46.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 15.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Morristown departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,700,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Morristown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,338 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 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 35.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 32.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 34.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 41.0 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Morristown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Morristown.
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.