ZIP 02142 recorded 86 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 495 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Middlesex County, MA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
495 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 88 | |
| 2022 | 115 | |
| 2023 | 107 | |
| 2024 | 99 | |
| 2025 | 86 |
May peaks. Dec dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 02142 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 189 | 38.2% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 33 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Overheated motor | 33 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Building fires | 28 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Outside rubbish fire, other | 26 | 5.3% |
For the 7 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 02142 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laboratory | 8 | 20.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Roof surface: exterior | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 8 | 20.5% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Chemical reaction | 8 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Candle | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 02142 across 2021–2025. These 4 fires alone account for 0% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 3 | $500 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 4 | $100 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 02142.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambridge | 493 | |
| 2 | Somerville | 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 — 495 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.