In 2025, fire departments serving Felton responded to 73 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
387 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $123K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64 | — | |
| 2022 | 68 | +6.2% | |
| 2023 | 93 | +36.8% | |
| 2024 | 89 | -4.3% | |
| 2025 | 73 | -18.0% |
For the 18 building fires Felton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 172 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 | 98 | 57.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 11.0% |
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 Felton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 138 | 80.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 6.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 0.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Felton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 32,123 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 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,250 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,238 | 46.9 mi |
Top 3 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 Felton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Felton.
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.