ZIP 28761 recorded 238 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 876 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Burke County, NC. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
876 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 148 | |
| 2022 | 166 | |
| 2023 | 158 | |
| 2024 | 166 | |
| 2025 | 238 |
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 28761 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 257 | 29.3% | |
| 2 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 61 | 7.0% | |
| 3 | Authorized controlled burning | 51 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | 44 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Grass fire | 38 | 4.3% |
For the 67 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 28761 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 95 | 30.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 83 | 26.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 14 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Other | 11 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 51 | 16.3% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 194 | 62.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 24 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 17 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 12 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 11 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 31 | 9.9% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 28761 across 2021–2025. These 7 fires alone account for 125% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 3 | $32,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2022 | Significant |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 6 | $3,000 | Water vehicle fire | 2023 | Significant |
| 7 | $1,500 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 28761.
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| McDowell County | NC | 1.00 | FIPS 37111 |
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 — 876 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.