ZIP 20817 recorded 153 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 768 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Montgomery County, MD.
768 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 159 | |
| 2022 | 148 | |
| 2023 | 148 | |
| 2024 | 160 | |
| 2025 | 153 |
Jun peaks. Mar dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 20817 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 196 | 25.5% | |
| 2 | Power line down | 159 | 20.7% | |
| 3 | Hazardous condition, other | 71 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 67 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Carbon monoxide incident | 39 | 5.1% |
For the 2 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 20817 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 37 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 9 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 33 | 26.2% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 41.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 14 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 20817 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 592% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 4 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 5 | $110,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 6 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 7 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 8 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2023 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 20817.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bethesda | 753 | |
| 2 | Potomac | 5 | |
| 3 | Silver Spring | 2 | |
| 4 | Cabin John | 1 | |
| 5 | Chevy Chase | 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 — 768 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.