ZIP 78538 recorded 28 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 267 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Hidalgo County, TX. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
267 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38 | |
| 2022 | 44 | |
| 2023 | 53 | |
| 2024 | 104 | |
| 2025 | 28 |
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 78538 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grass fire | 59 | 22.1% | |
| 2 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 28 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Fire, other | 27 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Building fires | 19 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 17 | 6.4% |
For the 1 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 78538 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 74 | 63.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 18 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 6 | 5.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 98 | 83.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 3 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 4 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 78538 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 234% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 2 | $35,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | 2024 | Significant |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 4 | $12,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 5 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | 2025 | Significant |
| 6 | $6,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 8 | $5,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | 2024 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 78538.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edcouch | 161 | |
| 2 | Monte Alto | 73 | |
| 3 | Elsa | 13 | |
| 4 | La Blanca | 8 | |
| 5 | Edinburg | 7 |
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 — 267 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.