In 2025, fire departments serving Saddle Brook responded to 100 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $275K 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 65% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
212 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $434K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023* | 16 | — | |
| 2024 | 92 | — | |
| 2025 | 100 | +8.7% |
* Well below Saddle Brook'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 3 building fires Saddle Brook departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | 10 | 25.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 25.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 10.3% |
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 Saddle Brook mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 48.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Saddle Brook departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $275,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Saddle Brook sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,622 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 22.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 31.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 25.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 374 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 363 | 13.1 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 Saddle Brook. 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.