ZIP 28431 recorded 38 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 125 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Columbus County, NC. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
125 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | |
| 2022 | 16 | |
| 2023 | 15 | |
| 2024 | 41 | |
| 2025 | 38 |
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28431 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 49 | 39.2% | |
| 2 | Fires in structures other than in a building | 23 | 18.4% | |
| 3 | Grass fire | 11 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 8 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Fire, other | 6 | 4.8% |
For the 18 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28431 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 29.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 25.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 4 | 12.9% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 51.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 4 | 12.9% |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28431.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chadbourn | 120 | |
| 2 | Whiteville | 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 — 125 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.