ZIP 28602 recorded 240 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,618 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Catawba County, NC.
1,618 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 381 | |
| 2022 | 316 | |
| 2023 | 378 | |
| 2024 | 303 | |
| 2025 | 240 |
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28602 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 187 | 11.6% | |
| 2 | Power line down | 154 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Unauthorized burning | 149 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Authorized controlled burning | 114 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Passenger vehicle fire | 96 | 5.9% |
For the 25 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28602 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 90 | 19.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 68 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 39 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 33 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 31 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 17 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 15 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 131 | 28.9% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 132 | 29.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 57 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 36 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 31 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 29 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 27 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 21 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 19 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 101 | 22.3% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28602 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 266% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $637,700 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 2 | $362,900 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 4 | $180,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 5 | $180,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 6 | $179,700 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 7 | $165,400 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 8 | $164,500 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28602.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hickory | 1,616 | |
| 2 | Connelly Springs | 1 | |
| 3 | Hildebran | 1 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 — 1,618 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.