In 2025, fire departments serving Millsboro responded to 136 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
856 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $95K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 161 | — | |
| 2022 | 179 | +11.2% | |
| 2023 | 179 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 201 | +12.3% | |
| 2025 | 136 | -32.3% |
For the 18 building fires Millsboro departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 212 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 | 151 | 71.2% | |
| 2 | Other | 13 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 0.9% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 7.1% |
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 Millsboro mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 183 | 86.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 12 | 5.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 0.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Millsboro departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Millsboro sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35,156 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 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 39.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,250 | 22.1 mi |
Top 7 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 Millsboro. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Millsboro.
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.