ZIP 19956 recorded 192 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 868 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Sussex County, DE. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
868 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 160 | |
| 2022 | 152 | |
| 2023 | 188 | |
| 2024 | 176 | |
| 2025 | 192 |
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 19956 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 256 | 29.5% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 70 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Power line down | 64 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 50 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 49 | 5.6% |
For the 57 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 19956 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 35 | 17.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 32 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 31 | 15.7% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 12 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 59 | 29.9% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 91 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 20 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 23 | 11.7% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 19956 across 2021–2025. These 4 fires alone account for 437% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 19956.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurel | 800 | |
| 2 | Georgetown | 4 | |
| 3 | Seaford | 3 | |
| 4 | Delmar | 2 |
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 — 868 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.