ZIP 27516 recorded 129 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 998 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Chatham County, NC.
998 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 229 | |
| 2022 | 193 | |
| 2023 | 271 | |
| 2024 | 176 | |
| 2025 | 129 |
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 27516 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 230 | 23.0% | |
| 2 | Building fires | 135 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Power line down | 103 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Hazardous condition, other | 67 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | 54 | 5.4% |
For the 22 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 27516 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 30 | 16.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 29 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 15.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 49 | 27.5% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 85 | 47.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 30 | 16.9% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 27516 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 236% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Major |
| 2 | $600,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 3 | $489,900 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 4 | $400,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 5 | $350,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 6 | $250,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Major |
| 7 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $163,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 27516.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapel Hill | 962 | |
| 2 | Carrboro | 6 | |
| 3 | Durham | 5 | |
| 4 | New Hope | 2 | |
| 5 | Hillsborough | 1 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County | NC | 1.00 | FIPS 37135 |
| Durham County | NC | 0.50 | FIPS 37063 |
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 — 998 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.