In 2025, fire departments serving Westville responded to 71 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
258 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | — | |
| 2023* | 12 | — | |
| 2024 | 118 | — | |
| 2025 | 71 | -39.8% |
* Well below Westville'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 3 building fires Westville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | 12 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.8% |
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 Westville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 76.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Westville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 108,090 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 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 17,050 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11,765 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,284 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,832 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 29.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 35.2 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 Westville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Westville.
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.