ZIP 19720 recorded 996 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 5,744 across 2021–2025. Primary county: New Castle County, DE. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
5,744 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,029 | |
| 2022 | 1,162 | |
| 2023 | 1,208 | |
| 2024 | 1,349 | |
| 2025 | 996 |
Dec peaks. Sep dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 19720 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 2,109 | 36.7% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 763 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 450 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Passenger vehicle fire | 276 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 209 | 3.6% |
For the 309 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 19720 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 291 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 258 | 23.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 127 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 96 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 36 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Other | 32 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 30 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 24 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 217 | 19.5% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 671 | 60.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 148 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 66 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 40 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 39 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 19 | 1.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 18 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 93 | 8.4% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 19720 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 122% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 6 | $75,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 19720.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Castle | 5,439 | |
| 2 | Newark | 62 | |
| 3 | Wilmington | 31 | |
| 4 | Bear | 17 | |
| 5 | Wilmington Manor | 6 |
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 — 5,744 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.