ZIP 28604 recorded 41 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 206 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Avery County, NC.
206 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | |
| 2022 | 47 | |
| 2023 | 43 | |
| 2024 | 49 | |
| 2025 | 41 |
Feb peaks. Jun dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28604 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 38 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | 37 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 29 | 14.1% | |
| 4 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | 12 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 11 | 5.3% |
For the 6 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28604 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 1 | 7.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 1 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28604 across 2021–2025. These 7 fires alone account for 104% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2022 | Significant |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2022 | Significant |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 7 | $250 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28604.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Banner Elk | 113 | |
| 2 | Beech Mountain | 72 | |
| 3 | Elk Park | 1 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watauga County | NC | 1.00 | FIPS 37189 |
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 — 206 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.