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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

In 2025, fire departments serving Stone Harbor responded to 69 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C- Peak yr 2025 Cape May County 887 residents 0 reporting departments 162 5-yr
Total incidents
69
+115.6% vs 2024
Building fires
3
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$50
$0 structure · $50 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 88% of all calls.

69
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 32 46.4%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 13 18.8%
Cooking fire, confined to container 9 13.0%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 4 5.8%
Building fires 3 4.3%
All other categories 8 11.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 1
Feb 5
Mar 6
Apr 8
May 3
Jun 7
Jul 9
Aug 13
Sep 6
Oct 5
Nov 6
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Stone Harbor

162 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 3 —
2022 51 —
2023* 7 —
2024 32 —
2025 69 +115.6%

* Well below Stone Harbor'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 3 building fires Stone Harbor departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
33%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
33%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
34%
1
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Stone Harbor?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 originCountShare 
1 Outside area, other 2 28.6%
2 Undetermined 2 28.6%
3 Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola 1 14.3%
4 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 1 14.3%
5 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 1 14.3%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Stone Harbor mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 4 57.1%
2 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 1 14.3%
3 Hot or smoldering object, other 1 14.3%
4 Flame/torch used for lighting 1 14.3%
05 How Stone Harbor compares

Stone Harbor vs New Jersey vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Stone Harbor sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

77.79
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Stone Harbor
77.79
NJ avg
6.57
US avg
7.48
3.38
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Stone Harbor
3.38
NJ avg
0.58
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Stone Harbor
0
NJ avg
2.3
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Stone Harbor

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 43,041 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
1999 Equipment and vehicle use 11,765 48.4 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 3,577 44.2 mi
2017 Natural 3,477 32.7 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,450 46.5 mi
2020 Arson/incendiarism 2,107 42.2 mi
1995 Arson/incendiarism 2,000 36.7 mi
2008 Arson/incendiarism 1,950 47.4 mi
1997 Arson/incendiarism 1,900 44.3 mi
2014 Arson/incendiarism 1,600 46.4 mi
2014 Arson/incendiarism 1,535 26.5 mi
2020 Natural 1,518 25.2 mi
2002 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 1,250 30.6 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Stone Harbor do fires concentrate?

Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 08247 162
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Stone Harbor

Six New Jersey cities with population within ±25% of Stone Harbor. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.