ZIP 28472 recorded 205 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,211 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Columbus County, NC. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
1,211 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 217 | |
| 2022 | 281 | |
| 2023 | 233 | |
| 2024 | 275 | |
| 2025 | 205 |
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28472 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 192 | 15.9% | |
| 2 | Hazardous condition, other | 176 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Grass fire | 104 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking fire, confined to container | 84 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Fires in structures other than in a building | 73 | 6.0% |
For the 26 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28472 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 181 | 31.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 104 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 89 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 42 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 36 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Other | 16 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 8 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 92 | 15.9% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 318 | 55.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 75 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 45 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 29 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 13 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 65 | 11.2% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28472 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 889% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $485,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 2 | $375,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2022 | Major |
| 3 | $150,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2022 | Significant |
| 4 | $150,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | 2024 | Significant |
| 5 | $120,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 6 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $80,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28472.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whiteville | 1,194 | |
| 2 | Bladenboro | 1 | |
| 3 | Tabor City | 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 — 1,211 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.