ZIP 21856 recorded 11 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 54 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Wicomico County, MD. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
54 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 10 | |
| 2023 | 13 | |
| 2024 | 16 | |
| 2025 | 11 |
Feb peaks. Sep dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 21856 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 27 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 2 | 3.7% |
For the 4 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 21856 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 1 | 8.3% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 41.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 21856 across 2021–2025. These 3 fires alone account for 200% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | 2025 | Significant |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 3 | $5,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 2024 | Significant |
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 — 54 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.