ZIP 98626 recorded 217 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 1,219 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Cowlitz County, WA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
1,219 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 256 | |
| 2022 | 247 | |
| 2023 | 270 | |
| 2024 | 229 | |
| 2025 | 217 |
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 98626 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unauthorized burning | 183 | 15.0% | |
| 2 | Building fires | 164 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 123 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 118 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Passenger vehicle fire | 84 | 6.9% |
For the 35 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 98626 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 47 | 15.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 37 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 26 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 23 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 15 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 12 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 12 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 117 | 38.1% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 109 | 35.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 39 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 26 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 58 | 18.9% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 98626 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 199% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $609,200 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 2 | $600,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 3 | $323,210 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 4 | $300,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Major |
| 5 | $277,350 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 6 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Significant |
| 7 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $200,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 98626.
| # | City | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelso | 1,196 | |
| 2 | Longview | 10 | |
| 3 | Castle Rock | 7 |
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 — 1,219 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.