ZIP 28609 recorded 81 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 517 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Catawba County, NC.
517 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 116 | |
| 2022 | 84 | |
| 2023 | 121 | |
| 2024 | 115 | |
| 2025 | 81 |
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28609 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 126 | 24.4% | |
| 2 | Power line down | 80 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | 44 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Authorized controlled burning | 28 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 26 | 5.0% |
For the 12 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28609 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 56 | 35.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 41 | 25.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Other | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 20 | 12.5% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 94 | 58.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 24 | 15.0% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28609 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 336% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $622,500 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 2 | $199,800 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 3 | $140,100 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 4 | $100,400 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 5 | $85,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 6 | $60,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28609.
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 — 517 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.