ZIP 34972 recorded 173 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,523 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Highlands County, FL. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
1,523 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 408 | |
| 2022 | 390 | |
| 2023 | 264 | |
| 2024 | 288 | |
| 2025 | 173 |
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 34972 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aircraft standby | 328 | 21.5% | |
| 2 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 285 | 18.7% | |
| 3 | Power line down | 150 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Passenger vehicle fire | 73 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Unauthorized burning | 73 | 4.8% |
For the 5 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 34972 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 183 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 115 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 86 | 13.1% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 58 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 52 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 28 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 25 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 20 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 92 | 14.0% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 293 | 44.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 54 | 8.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 53 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 47 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 38 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 16 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 123 | 18.7% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 34972 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 388% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 2 | $459,849 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 3 | $249,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 2022 | Significant |
| 4 | $235,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 5 | $200,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 6 | $170,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 7 | $160,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 8 | $120,000 | Water vehicle fire | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 34972.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Okeechobee | 1,499 | |
| 2 | Buckhead Ridge | 1 | |
| 3 | Fort Pierce | 1 | |
| 4 | Vero Beach | 1 |
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okeechobee County | FL | 1.00 | FIPS 12093 |
| Osceola County | FL | 1.00 | FIPS 12097 |
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 — 1,523 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.