ZIP 20872 recorded 63 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 309 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Montgomery County, MD.
309 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | |
| 2022 | 65 | |
| 2023 | 63 | |
| 2024 | 59 | |
| 2025 | 63 |
Dec peaks. Jan dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 20872 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Power line down | 57 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 52 | 16.8% | |
| 3 | Hazardous condition, other | 31 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Building fires | 23 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Carbon monoxide incident | 19 | 6.1% |
For the 6 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 20872 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 15.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 11 | 19.3% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 8 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 7 | 12.3% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 20872 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 283% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 3 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2021 | Significant |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 20872.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damascus | 301 | |
| 2 | Bethesda | 2 | |
| 3 | Gaithersburg | 1 | |
| 4 | Germantown | 1 | |
| 5 | Montgomery Village | 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 — 309 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.