ZIP 02144 recorded 376 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,960 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Middlesex County, MA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
1,960 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 440 | |
| 2022 | 377 | |
| 2023 | 411 | |
| 2024 | 356 | |
| 2025 | 376 |
Sep peaks. Feb dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 02144 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 427 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Power line down | 406 | 20.7% | |
| 3 | Hazardous condition, other | 218 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 206 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Building fires | 87 | 4.4% |
For the 18 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 02144 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 48 | 30.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 12 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Exterior, exposed surface | 11 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 51 | 32.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 55 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 24 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 14 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 14 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 9 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Candle | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 17 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 02144 across 2021–2025. These 4 fires alone account for 0% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $800,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 4 | $1,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 02144.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerville | 1,955 | |
| 2 | Cambridge | 2 | |
| 3 | Arlington | 1 | |
| 4 | Chelsea | 1 | |
| 5 | Medford | 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 — 1,960 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.