ZIP 28756 recorded 138 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 532 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Polk County, NC. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
532 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 89 | |
| 2022 | 88 | |
| 2023 | 128 | |
| 2024 | 89 | |
| 2025 | 138 |
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28756 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | 69 | 13.0% | |
| 2 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 55 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Building fires | 49 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Passenger vehicle fire | 40 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Natural vegetation fire, other | 30 | 5.6% |
For the 13 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28756 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 43 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 32 | 19.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 14 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 20 | 12.4% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 88 | 54.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 16 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 16 | 9.9% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28756 across 2021–2025. These 2 fires alone account for 0% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2021 | Significant |
| 2 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28756.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mills River | 1 | |
| 2 | Waynesville | 1 |
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 — 532 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.