In 2025, fire departments serving Newark responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
57 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $273K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 8 | -52.9% | |
| 2023 | 10 | +25.0% | |
| 2024 | 11 | +10.0% | |
| 2025 | 11 | +0.0% |
For the 3 building fires Newark departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Function area, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Wall assembly | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Newark mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Newark departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Newark sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 10 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 278 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 100 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 38.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 26.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 13 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Smoking | 13 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 10.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Smoking | 10 | 8.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 31.6 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 Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Newark. 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.