In 2025, fire departments serving Villas responded to 68 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
279 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 32 | — | |
| 2022* | 26 | — | |
| 2023 | 40 | — | |
| 2024 | 113 | +182.5% | |
| 2025 | 68 | -39.8% |
* Well below Villas'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 0 building fires Villas departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 17.6% |
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 Villas mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 38.2% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 6 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Fireworks | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Villas sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,481 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 3,477 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 44.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 29.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,250 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 765 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 677 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 660 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 569 | 40.1 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 08251 | 279 |
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Villas. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Villas.
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.