In 2025, fire departments serving Salem responded to 85 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
335 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $995K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 50 | — | |
| 2023 | 77 | +54.0% | |
| 2024 | 109 | +41.6% | |
| 2025 | 85 | -22.0% |
* Well below Salem's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 53 building fires Salem departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 53 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 18.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 6 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 11.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 17.0% |
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 Salem mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 50.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 15.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Other static discharge | 1 | 1.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Salem departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $28,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Salem sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 29,074 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 31.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,950 | 39.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,250 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 910 | 38.2 mi |
Top 4 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 Salem. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Salem.
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.