ZIP 98264 recorded 93 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 585 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Whatcom County, WA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
585 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 123 | |
| 2022 | 129 | |
| 2023 | 139 | |
| 2024 | 101 | |
| 2025 | 93 |
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 98264 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 67 | 11.5% | |
| 2 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 55 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) | 54 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Unauthorized burning | 44 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Grass fire | 30 | 5.1% |
For the 9 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 98264 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 28.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 8 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 32 | 24.6% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 55 | 42.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 10 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 16 | 12.3% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 98264 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 450% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $650,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 3 | $400,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | 2025 | Major |
| 4 | $350,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 5 | $250,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 6 | $160,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 7 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 8 | $150,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 98264.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lynden | 576 | |
| 2 | Ferndale | 4 | |
| 3 | Bellingham | 1 | |
| 4 | Everson | 1 | |
| 5 | Sumas | 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 — 585 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.