ZIP 08861 recorded 741 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 2,750 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Middlesex County, NJ. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
2,750 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 239 | |
| 2022 | 478 | |
| 2023 | 541 | |
| 2024 | 751 | |
| 2025 | 741 |
Jan peaks. Nov dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 08861 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Power line down | 683 | 24.8% | |
| 2 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | 513 | 18.7% | |
| 3 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 270 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Carbon monoxide incident | 224 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Building fires | 150 | 5.5% |
For the 43 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 08861 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 73 | 27.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 35 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 17 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 14 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 76 | 28.7% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 191 | 72.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 16 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 22 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 08861 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 469% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,818,392 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 3 | $489,371 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 4 | $275,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 5 | $230,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 6 | $110,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 7 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 08861.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perth Amboy | 1,925 | |
| 2 | Hopelawn | 815 | |
| 3 | Keasbey | 7 |
The figures above are historical. For today's air quality, fire-weather warnings, and active fires, go to the official sources.
NFIRS reports each fire incident with a 5-digit address ZIP. We aggregate those rows directly to produce ZIP-level totals — 2,750 incidents in this ZIP across 2021–2025. Building-fire breakdowns (Area of Origin, Heat Source, ignition cause) only count fires investigators classified beyond the basic incident report. Because NFIRS reporting is voluntary, totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.