ZIP 98226 recorded 220 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,968 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Whatcom County, WA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
1,968 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 463 | |
| 2022 | 450 | |
| 2023 | 441 | |
| 2024 | 394 | |
| 2025 | 220 |
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 98226 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 337 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Outside rubbish fire, other | 157 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Unauthorized burning | 153 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Building fires | 150 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Grass fire | 111 | 5.6% |
For the 16 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 98226 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 146 | 42.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 36 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 17 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 12 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 88 | 25.7% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 211 | 61.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 27 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 14 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 12 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 40 | 11.7% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 98226 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 420% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 3 | $400,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 4 | $300,883 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 5 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 6 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 7 | $175,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 8 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 98226.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bellingham | 1,947 | |
| 2 | Lynden | 9 | |
| 3 | Ferndale | 7 | |
| 4 | Everson | 4 | |
| 5 | Anacortes | 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 — 1,968 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.