ZIP 21046 recorded 63 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 273 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Howard County, MD.
273 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | |
| 2022 | 51 | |
| 2023 | 60 | |
| 2024 | 63 | |
| 2025 | 63 |
Mar peaks. May dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 21046 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 57 | 20.9% | |
| 2 | Passenger vehicle fire | 24 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | 17 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 16 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | 14 | 5.1% |
For the 3 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 21046 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 36.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 13 | 21.7% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 6 | 10.0% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 2 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 21046 across 2021–2025. These 2 fires alone account for 1500100% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 2 | $1 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 21046.
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 — 273 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.