ZIP 01851 recorded 218 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,028 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Middlesex County, MA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
1,028 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 207 | |
| 2022 | 204 | |
| 2023 | 178 | |
| 2024 | 221 | |
| 2025 | 218 |
Mar peaks. May dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 01851 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unauthorized burning | 137 | 13.3% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 109 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Carbon monoxide incident | 104 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Power line down | 99 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 81 | 7.9% |
For the 3 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 01851 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 14.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 56 | 43.8% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 19.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 16 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 11.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 13 | 10.2% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 7.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Candle | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 24 | 18.8% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 01851 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 3111% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 2 | $350,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 3 | $331,800 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 4 | $300,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 7 | $85,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 01851.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lowell | 1,028 |
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 — 1,028 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.