In 2025, fire departments serving Manasquan responded to 90 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
334 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $641K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58 | — | |
| 2022 | 78 | +34.5% | |
| 2023 | 55 | -29.5% | |
| 2024 | 53 | -3.6% | |
| 2025 | 90 | +69.8% |
For the 6 building fires Manasquan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 23.1% |
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 Manasquan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 43.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Manasquan departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Manasquan sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 104,729 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 19,225 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 17,050 | 31.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11,765 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,284 | 23.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,832 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 24.8 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 Manasquan. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Manasquan.
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.