ZIP 01523 recorded 64 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 245 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Worcester County, MA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
245 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 74 | |
| 2022 | 58 | |
| 2023 | 44 | |
| 2024 | 5 | |
| 2025 | 64 |
Apr peaks. Jun dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 01523 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 66 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Unauthorized burning | 17 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 16 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Carbon monoxide incident | 15 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Passenger vehicle fire | 14 | 5.7% |
For the 21 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 01523 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other | 14 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 10 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 7 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 7.3% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 5 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 19 | 23.2% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 52.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 19 | 23.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 4 | 4.9% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 01523 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 307% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 2 | $400,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 5 | $175,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 7 | $85,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 8 | $75,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 01523.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lancaster | 242 | |
| 2 | Harvard | 1 | |
| 3 | Sturbridge | 1 | |
| 4 | Worcester | 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 — 245 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.