In 2025, fire departments serving Margate City responded to 69 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. 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 80% of all calls.
May peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
381 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $658K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52 | — | |
| 2022 | 89 | +71.2% | |
| 2023 | 92 | +3.4% | |
| 2024 | 79 | -14.1% | |
| 2025 | 69 | -12.7% |
For the 0 building fires Margate City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 21.9% |
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 Margate City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Margate City departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $6,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Margate City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 110,555 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 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 17,050 | 28.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11,765 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 30.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,284 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,832 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 3,477 | 9.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 28.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 08402 | 381 |
Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Margate City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.