In 2025, fire departments serving Watchung responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
185 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022* | 17 | — | |
| 2023* | 2 | — | |
| 2024 | 94 | — | |
| 2025 | 35 | -62.8% |
* Well below Watchung'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 6 building fires Watchung departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 47 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 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 23.4% |
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 Watchung mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 34.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Match | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Candle | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 14.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Watchung sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,899 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Smoking | 702 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 43.3 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 Watchung. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Watchung.
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.