In 2025, fire departments serving Cape May County responded to 1,616 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips.
5,937 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 672 | |
| 2022 | 1,354 | |
| 2023 | 930 | |
| 2024 | 1,365 | |
| 2025 | 1,616 |
For the 169 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Cape May County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | BURLEIGH | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | BURLEIGH | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $900,000 | SWAINTON | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $600,000 | CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE | Outside equipment fire | Major |
| 5 | $400,000 | Wildwood | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $400,000 | BURLEIGH | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $75,000 | Wildwood | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $75,000 | CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $50,000 | WILDWOOD CREST | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $40,000 | Wildwood | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 34009.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Lower | 22,123 | View › |
| Middle | 20,340 | View › |
| Upper | 12,562 | View › |
| Ocean City | 11,260 | View › |
| Villas | 9,925 | View › |
| Dennis | 6,283 | View › |
| Cape May Court House | 5,557 | View › |
| Wildwood | 5,164 | View › |
| North Cape May | 3,832 | View › |
| North Wildwood | 3,639 | View › |
| Rio Grande | 3,364 | View › |
| Wildwood Crest | 3,104 | View › |
24 departments report from this county.
Top 6 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NJGSR-FY19-RX-Pool 3b | 2019 | FWS | 83 |
| 2 | NJWKR-FY19-RX-Kenely Unit D | 2019 | FWS | 4 |
| 3 | Game Farm | 2024 | FWS | 1 |
| 4 | NJGSR-FY20-WF-Orange Trail WF | 2020 | FWS | 0 |
| 5 | NJWKR-FY20-WF-Papakating Creek WF | 2020 | FWS | 0 |
| 6 | Water Works | 2023 | FWS | 0 |
County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.