In 2025, fire departments serving Georgetown responded to 160 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
950 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $250K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 139 | — | |
| 2022 | 192 | +38.1% | |
| 2023 | 188 | -2.1% | |
| 2024 | 271 | +44.1% | |
| 2025 | 160 | -41.0% |
For the 16 building fires Georgetown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 310 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 | 222 | 71.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 21 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 0.6% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 1.9% |
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 Georgetown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 293 | 94.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 0.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 9 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 0.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Georgetown departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Georgetown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 36,815 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 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 45.9 mi |
Top 5 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 Georgetown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Georgetown.
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.