In 2025, fire departments serving South Plainfield responded to 135 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 70% of all calls.
May peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
875 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 145 | — | |
| 2022 | 160 | +10.3% | |
| 2023 | 230 | +43.8% | |
| 2024 | 205 | -10.9% | |
| 2025 | 135 | -34.1% |
For the 8 building fires South Plainfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 101 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 | Undetermined | 15 | 14.9% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 12 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 11.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 18.8% |
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 South Plainfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 56.4% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Sunlight | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 5.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Plainfield sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
12 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 45,856 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 19,225 | 46.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,277 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,012 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 46.2 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 South Plainfield. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in South Plainfield.
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.