ZIP 78526 recorded 113 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 193 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Cameron County, TX. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
193 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | |
| 2022 | 15 | |
| 2023 | 7 | |
| 2024 | 11 | |
| 2025 | 113 |
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 78526 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Passenger vehicle fire | 28 | 14.5% | |
| 2 | Grass fire | 23 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Building fires | 18 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | 15 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 12 | 6.2% |
For the 10 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 78526 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 33 | 29.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 11 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 26 | 23.2% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 51 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Match | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 15 | 13.4% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 78526 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 115% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $180,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 2 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2021 | Significant |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 6 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2022 | Significant |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 78526.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brownsville | 116 | |
| 2 | Cameron Park | 15 | |
| 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 — 193 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.