In 2025, fire departments serving New Vernon responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
47 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023 | 10 | — | |
| 2024 | 12 | +20.0% | |
| 2025 | 12 | +0.0% |
* Well below New Vernon'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 7 building fires New Vernon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 6 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 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 16.7% |
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 New Vernon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 16.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Vernon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,714 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 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 536 | 49.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 34.6 mi |
Top 2 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 New Vernon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in New Vernon.
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.