ZIP 20879 recorded 86 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 378 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Montgomery County, MD.
378 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65 | |
| 2022 | 79 | |
| 2023 | 80 | |
| 2024 | 68 | |
| 2025 | 86 |
Mar peaks. May dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 20879 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 71 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Hazardous condition, other | 55 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Passenger vehicle fire | 38 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Building fires | 29 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 23 | 6.1% |
For the 7 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 20879 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 23.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 11 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 45 | 35.4% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 33.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 18 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 20879 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 581% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2022 | Major |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 3 | $100,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | 2021 | Significant |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 7 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 8 | $85,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 20879.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gaithersburg | 368 | |
| 2 | Montgomery Village | 4 | |
| 3 | Derwood | 2 | |
| 4 | Germantown | 2 | |
| 5 | Olney | 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 — 378 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.