ZIP 02143 recorded 439 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 2,059 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Middlesex County, MA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
2,059 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 353 | |
| 2022 | 377 | |
| 2023 | 432 | |
| 2024 | 458 | |
| 2025 | 439 |
May peaks. Feb dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 02143 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Power line down | 496 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Hazardous condition, other | 274 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 256 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 178 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 106 | 5.1% |
For the 18 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 02143 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 79 | 39.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 13 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 9 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 8 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 50 | 25.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 86 | 43.2% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 33 | 16.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 15 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 14 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 19 | 9.5% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 02143 across 2021–2025. These 6 fires alone account for 0% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 6 | $1,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 02143.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerville | 2,059 |
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 — 2,059 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.