ZIP 78520 recorded 394 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 3,497 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Cameron County, TX. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
3,497 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 721 | |
| 2022 | 514 | |
| 2023 | 1,055 | |
| 2024 | 813 | |
| 2025 | 394 |
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 78520 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 555 | 15.9% | |
| 2 | Power line down | 457 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Grass fire | 409 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Passenger vehicle fire | 370 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Building fires | 278 | 7.9% |
For the 28 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 78520 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 502 | 29.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 247 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 215 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 120 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 84 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 80 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 54 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 52 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 338 | 20.0% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 948 | 56.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 107 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 101 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 97 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 81 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Match | 55 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 54 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 46 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 203 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 78520 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 368% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2021 | Major |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2022 | Major |
| 3 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 4 | $800,000 | Water vehicle fire | 2024 | Major |
| 5 | $500,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2022 | Major |
| 6 | $375,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 7 | $300,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2023 | Major |
| 8 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 78520.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brownsville | 3,311 | |
| 2 | Cameron Park | 5 | |
| 3 | Rancho Viejo | 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 — 3,497 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.