In 2025, fire departments serving Surf City responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
289 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | — | |
| 2022 | 52 | +48.6% | |
| 2023 | 38 | -26.9% | |
| 2024 | 78 | +105.3% | |
| 2025 | 86 | +10.3% |
For the 10 building fires Surf City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Office | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Closet | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 8 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 9 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 11.1% |
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 Surf City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 3 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 11.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Surf City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 108,514 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 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 17,050 | 7.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11,765 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 16.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,284 | 14.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,832 | 12.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 3,477 | 20.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 28.5 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 Surf 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.