ZIP 02138 recorded 671 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 3,286 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Middlesex County, MA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
3,286 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 571 | |
| 2022 | 684 | |
| 2023 | 671 | |
| 2024 | 689 | |
| 2025 | 671 |
Oct peaks. Feb dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 02138 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 1,495 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Biological hazard, confirmed or suspected | 377 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 243 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Power line down | 174 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 149 | 4.5% |
For the 17 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 02138 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 29 | 21.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 25 | 18.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 47 | 35.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 29.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 30 | 22.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 15 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 11 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 18 | 13.4% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 02138 across 2021–2025. These 7 fires alone account for 1576% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 3 | $4,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 4 | $4,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 5 | $1,500 | Outside storage fire | 2022 | Significant |
| 6 | $1,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 7 | $400 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 02138.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambridge | 3,281 | |
| 2 | Somerville | 4 | |
| 3 | Boston | 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 — 3,286 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.