In 2025, fire departments serving Wharton responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
192 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 46 | +84.0% | |
| 2023 | 30 | -34.8% | |
| 2024 | 54 | +80.0% | |
| 2025 | 37 | -31.5% |
For the 8 building fires Wharton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 50 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 | Outside area, other | 10 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 16.0% |
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 Wharton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 42.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 8.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wharton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,677 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,949 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 27.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 31.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 32.3 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 Wharton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wharton.
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.