ZIP 02461 recorded 50 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 242 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Middlesex County, MA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
242 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41 | |
| 2022 | 50 | |
| 2023 | 51 | |
| 2024 | 50 | |
| 2025 | 50 |
Jun peaks. Jul dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 02461 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 76 | 31.4% | |
| 2 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | 28 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | 20 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 19 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 18 | 7.4% |
For the 0 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 02461 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cigarette | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Sunlight | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 7.1% |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 02461.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newton | 242 |
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 — 242 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.