ZIP 21838 recorded 28 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 118 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Somerset County, MD. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
118 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | |
| 2022 | 34 | |
| 2023 | 9 | |
| 2024 | 26 | |
| 2025 | 28 |
Jan peaks. May dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 21838 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 34 | 28.8% | |
| 2 | Building fires | 21 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Fires in structures other than in a building | 9 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Passenger vehicle fire | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 6 | 5.1% |
For the 5 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 21838 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 40.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 4 | 7.4% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 40.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 7 | 13.0% |
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 — 118 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.