ZIP 35020 recorded 494 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,995 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Jefferson County, AL. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
1,995 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 297 | |
| 2022 | 389 | |
| 2023 | 373 | |
| 2024 | 442 | |
| 2025 | 494 |
Oct peaks. Apr dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 35020 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 283 | 14.2% | |
| 2 | Building fires | 271 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Passenger vehicle fire | 222 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Power line down | 221 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 129 | 6.5% |
For the 78 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 35020 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 493 | 56.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 81 | 9.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 50 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 30 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 29 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 135 | 15.4% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 731 | 83.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 28 | 3.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 3.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 1.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 13 | 1.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 11 | 1.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 0.7% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 38 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 35020 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 304% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2023 | Major |
| 2 | $500,000 | Fire, other | 2023 | Major |
| 3 | $400,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 4 | $300,000 | Fire, other | 2022 | Major |
| 5 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 6 | $200,000 | Fire, other | 2021 | Significant |
| 7 | $200,000 | Fire, other | 2021 | Significant |
| 8 | $200,000 | Fire, other | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 35020.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bessemer | 1,915 | |
| 2 | Birmingham | 58 | |
| 3 | Brighton | 3 | |
| 4 | Lipscomb | 3 | |
| 5 | Hueytown | 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 — 1,995 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.