ZIP 19971 recorded 160 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 723 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Sussex County, DE. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
723 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 150 | |
| 2022 | 140 | |
| 2023 | 124 | |
| 2024 | 149 | |
| 2025 | 160 |
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 19971 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 176 | 24.3% | |
| 2 | Building fires | 111 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Power line down | 91 | 12.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from short circuit (wiring), defective/worn | 48 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | 41 | 5.7% |
For the 16 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 19971 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 22.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 32 | 34.8% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 41 | 44.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 19.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 10 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 7 | 7.6% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 19971 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 330% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 3 | $600,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 4 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 5 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 6 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 7 | $400,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 8 | $320,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 19971.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rehoboth Beach | 305 | |
| 2 | Lewes | 43 | |
| 3 | Blades | 2 | |
| 4 | Millsboro | 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 — 723 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.