In 2025, fire departments serving South Dennis responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 85% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
66 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | -22.2% | |
| 2023 | 14 | +0.0% | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 13 | — |
* Well below South Dennis'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 0 building fires South Dennis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | 9 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Separate operator/control area of transportation | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 5.6% |
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 South Dennis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 72.2% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Dennis sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 73,517 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 17,050 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11,765 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 3,477 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,950 | 39.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,600 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 38.7 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 South Dennis. 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.