In 2025, fire departments serving Parsippany responded to 226 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $375K 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 55% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,102 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 167 | — | |
| 2022 | 175 | +4.8% | |
| 2023 | 262 | +49.7% | |
| 2024 | 272 | +3.8% | |
| 2025 | 226 | -16.9% |
For the 10 building fires Parsippany departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 258 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 60 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 33 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 33 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 27 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 45 | 17.4% |
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 Parsippany mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 144 | 55.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 22 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 21 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 15 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Candle | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 6.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Parsippany departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $375,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $33,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Parsippany sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,390 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 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 26.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 35.2 mi |
Top 6 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 Parsippany. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Parsippany.
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.