ZIP 08879 recorded 177 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 662 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Middlesex County, NJ. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
662 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | |
| 2022 | 94 | |
| 2023 | 116 | |
| 2024 | 212 | |
| 2025 | 177 |
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 08879 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 225 | 34.0% | |
| 2 | Carbon monoxide incident | 79 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 36 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 31 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 30 | 4.5% |
For the 11 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 08879 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 31 | 32.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 17 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 12 | 12.6% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 8 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 14 | 14.7% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 81 | 85.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 4 | Candle | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 1 | 1.1% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 08879 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 104% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 2 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 3 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 2024 | Significant |
| 4 | $1,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 5 | $1,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | 2025 | Significant |
| 6 | $1,000 | Fire, other | 2025 | Significant |
| 7 | $1,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | 2025 | Significant |
| 8 | $1,000 | Special outside fire, other | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 08879.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Amboy | 618 | |
| 2 | Laurence Harbor | 35 | |
| 3 | Old Bridge | 1 |
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 — 662 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.