ZIP 28601 recorded 190 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,278 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Alexander County, NC.
1,278 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 299 | |
| 2022 | 242 | |
| 2023 | 323 | |
| 2024 | 224 | |
| 2025 | 190 |
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28601 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Power line down | 183 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 161 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Building fires | 159 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Unauthorized burning | 107 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 51 | 4.0% |
For the 17 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28601 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 41 | 15.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 40 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 19 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 14 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 109 | 39.8% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 54 | 19.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 35 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 32 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 27 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 12 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 12 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 68 | 24.8% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28601 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 236% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 3 | $300,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2023 | Major |
| 4 | $275,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 5 | $240,800 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 6 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 7 | $172,500 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $162,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28601.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hickory | 1,269 | |
| 2 | Conover | 2 | |
| 3 | Bethlehem | 1 | |
| 4 | Granite Falls | 1 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catawba County | NC | 1.00 | FIPS 37035 |
| Burke County | NC | 0.50 | FIPS 37023 |
| Caldwell County | NC | 0.50 | FIPS 37027 |
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 — 1,278 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.