ZIP 78542 recorded 331 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,268 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Hidalgo County, TX. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
1,268 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 263 | |
| 2022 | 140 | |
| 2023 | 200 | |
| 2024 | 334 | |
| 2025 | 331 |
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 78542 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grass fire | 125 | 9.9% | |
| 2 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 88 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | 88 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 86 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Power line down | 79 | 6.2% |
For the 25 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 78542 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 176 | 38.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 67 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 47 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 44 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Other | 34 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 60 | 13.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 296 | 64.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 21 | 4.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 4.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 20 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Match | 11 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 9 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 53 | 11.5% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 78542 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 252% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | 2024 | Major |
| 2 | $400,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Major |
| 3 | $300,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 4 | $120,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
| 5 | $80,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 6 | $80,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 7 | $80,000 | Chemical spill or leak | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $75,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 78542.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edinburg | 1,209 | |
| 2 | Elsa | 9 | |
| 3 | San Carlos | 9 | |
| 4 | Donna | 5 | |
| 5 | Hargill | 5 |
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 — 1,268 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.