ZIP 78597 recorded 30 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 401 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Cameron County, TX. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
401 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 101 | |
| 2022 | 97 | |
| 2023 | 72 | |
| 2024 | 101 | |
| 2025 | 30 |
May peaks. Dec dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 78597 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | 117 | 29.2% | |
| 2 | Power line down | 73 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 21 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Building fires | 18 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | 18 | 4.5% |
For the 2 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 78597 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 53 | 42.1% | |
| 2 | Other | 12 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 31 | 24.6% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 34.1% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 18 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 17 | 13.5% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 78597 across 2021–2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 2 | $5,000 | Fire, other | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 78597.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Padre Island | 392 |
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 — 401 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.