ZIP 98266 recorded 127 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 548 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Whatcom County, WA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
548 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 116 | |
| 2022 | 110 | |
| 2023 | 88 | |
| 2024 | 107 | |
| 2025 | 127 |
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 98266 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unauthorized burning | 400 | 73.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | 25 | 4.6% | |
| 3 | Building fires | 14 | 2.6% | |
| 4 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 14 | 2.6% | |
| 5 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | 12 | 2.2% |
For the 1 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 98266 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 34.0% | |
| 2 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Roof surface: exterior | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 12 | 24.0% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 60.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Incendiary device | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 2 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 98266 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 1044% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 2 | $139,728 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 2022 | Significant |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 4 | $84,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Significant |
| 5 | $63,171 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 6 | $50,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 2021 | Significant |
| 7 | $40,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 2025 | Significant |
| 8 | $35,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | 2022 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 98266.
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 — 548 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.