ZIP 98230 recorded 144 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 783 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Whatcom County, WA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
783 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 169 | |
| 2022 | 142 | |
| 2023 | 197 | |
| 2024 | 131 | |
| 2025 | 144 |
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 98230 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unauthorized burning | 168 | 21.5% | |
| 2 | Building fires | 86 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 54 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 52 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Authorized controlled burning | 50 | 6.4% |
For the 9 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 98230 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 53 | 32.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 53 | 32.5% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 95 | 58.3% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 9 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 17 | 10.4% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 98230 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 282% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 3 | $200,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 2022 | Significant |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
| 5 | $175,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 7 | $140,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 98230.
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 — 783 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.