ZIP 28659 recorded 89 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 436 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Wilkes County, NC. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
436 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 81 | |
| 2022 | 119 | |
| 2023 | 87 | |
| 2024 | 60 | |
| 2025 | 89 |
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28659 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 105 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Power line down | 70 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 27 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Passenger vehicle fire | 19 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Grass fire | 17 | 3.9% |
For the 13 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28659 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 40 | 22.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 14 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 9 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 38 | 21.2% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 62 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 19 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 28 | 15.6% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28659 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 332% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 2 | $175,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 2022 | Significant |
| 3 | $175,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 4 | $90,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 5 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 6 | $75,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 7 | $75,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 8 | $35,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28659.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Wilkesboro | 413 | |
| 2 | Wilkesboro | 2 |
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 — 436 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.