ZIP 28021 recorded 124 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 766 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Cleveland County, NC. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
766 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 159 | |
| 2022 | 142 | |
| 2023 | 179 | |
| 2024 | 162 | |
| 2025 | 124 |
May peaks. Sep dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28021 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 135 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 70 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Power line down | 64 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Unauthorized burning | 53 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 40 | 5.2% |
For the 24 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28021 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 79 | 31.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 47 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 9 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 8 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 40 | 16.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 106 | 42.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 26 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 14 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 14 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 8 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 8 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 44 | 17.7% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28021 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 7889% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $12,000,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2024 | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $130,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 3 | $102,283 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 5 | $80,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 6 | $80,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 7 | $70,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 8 | $60,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28021.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cherryville | 693 | |
| 2 | Lincolnton | 1 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaston County | NC | 1.00 | FIPS 37071 |
| Lincoln County | NC | 1.00 | FIPS 37109 |
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 — 766 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.