In 2025, fire departments serving Chester responded to 36 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 89% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
203 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 39 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | +2.6% | |
| 2023 | 32 | -20.0% | |
| 2024 | 56 | +75.0% | |
| 2025 | 36 | -35.7% |
For the 5 building fires Chester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | 6 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 4.2% |
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 Chester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 41.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Sunlight | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chester sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,272 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,949 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 42.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 42.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 40.8 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 Chester. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Chester.
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.