In 2025, fire departments serving Salem County responded to 832 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $4.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips.
2,854 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 238 | |
| 2022 | 489 | |
| 2023 | 500 | |
| 2024 | 795 | |
| 2025 | 832 |
For the 277 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Salem County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,990,000 | Elmer | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $300,000 | Quinton | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $100,000 | Pennsville | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $50,000 | Salem | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $50,000 | Pennsville | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $45,000 | Pittsgrove | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $30,000 | Deepwater | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $28,000 | Salem | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 9 | $20,000 | Pennsville | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 10 | $13,000 | Salem | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 34033.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsville | 12,706 | View › |
| Pittsgrove | 8,799 | View › |
| Carneys Point | 8,606 | View › |
| Salem | 5,285 | View › |
| Penns Grove | 4,841 | View › |
| Pilesgrove | 4,165 | View › |
| Woodstown | 3,680 | View › |
| Upper Pittsgrove | 3,428 | View › |
| Alloway | 3,293 | View › |
| Quinton | 2,588 | View › |
| Mannington | 1,868 | View › |
| Oldmans | 1,774 | View › |
19 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.