ZIP 28043 recorded 162 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 786 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Rutherford County, NC. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
786 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 132 | |
| 2022 | 145 | |
| 2023 | 175 | |
| 2024 | 172 | |
| 2025 | 162 |
Nov peaks. Oct dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28043 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 155 | 19.7% | |
| 2 | Power line down | 80 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Aircraft standby | 70 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 61 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Unauthorized burning | 41 | 5.2% |
For the 35 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28043 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 58 | 22.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 30 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 28 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 25 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 15 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 69 | 26.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 130 | 49.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 16 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 13 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 49 | 18.6% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28043 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 0% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 4 | $5,000 | Grass fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 7 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2022 | Significant |
| 8 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28043.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forest City | 778 | |
| 2 | Rutherfordton | 2 | |
| 3 | Spindale | 2 | |
| 4 | Wilmington | 1 |
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 — 786 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.