ZIP 28139 recorded 24 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 375 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Polk County, NC. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
375 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | |
| 2022 | 131 | |
| 2023 | 131 | |
| 2024 | 69 | |
| 2025 | 24 |
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28139 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 89 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Hazardous condition, other | 65 | 17.3% | |
| 3 | Power line down | 33 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Authorized controlled burning | 20 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 19 | 5.1% |
For the 13 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28139 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 14 | 29.8% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 40.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 2 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28139 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 3169% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 2 | $85,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 3 | $54,400 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 7 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 8 | $7,500 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28139.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rutherfordton | 303 | |
| 2 | Forest City | 2 | |
| 3 | Ruth | 2 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rutherford County | NC | 1.00 | FIPS 37161 |
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 — 375 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.