In 2025, fire departments serving Bridgeville responded to 98 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 38% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
487 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 99 | — | |
| 2022 | 91 | -8.1% | |
| 2023 | 97 | +6.6% | |
| 2024 | 102 | +5.2% | |
| 2025 | 98 | -3.9% |
For the 9 building fires Bridgeville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 138 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 | 36 | 26.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 24 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 13 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 7.2% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 10.1% |
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 Bridgeville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 94 | 68.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Match | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 8.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bridgeville departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bridgeville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 36,800 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,208 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 31.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 49.0 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 Delaware cities with population within ±25% of Bridgeville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bridgeville.
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.