ZIP 20878 recorded 179 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 953 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Montgomery County, MD.
953 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 158 | |
| 2022 | 211 | |
| 2023 | 206 | |
| 2024 | 199 | |
| 2025 | 179 |
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 20878 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 329 | 34.5% | |
| 2 | Hazardous condition, other | 98 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 60 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Carbon monoxide incident | 56 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Building fires | 43 | 4.5% |
For the 8 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 20878 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooking area, kitchen | 36 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 16 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 14 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 13 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 68 | 34.5% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 86 | 43.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 13 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 27 | 13.7% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 20878 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 128% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 2 | $400,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 4 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 6 | $125,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 7 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2021 | Significant |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 20878.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gaithersburg | 937 | |
| 2 | Germantown | 6 | |
| 3 | Rockville | 4 | |
| 4 | Bethesda | 1 | |
| 5 | Potomac | 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 — 953 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.