ZIP 98944 recorded 129 fire and hazmat incidents in 2025, 658 across 2021–2025. Primary county: Benton County, WA. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
658 incidents from 2021 through 2025 inside this ZIP.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 195 | |
| 2022 | 133 | |
| 2023 | 89 | |
| 2024 | 112 | |
| 2025 | 129 |
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Aggregated across all 5 years inside this ZIP.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types for ZIP 98944 across 2021–2025.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 155 | 23.6% | |
| 2 | Passenger vehicle fire | 61 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Grass fire | 61 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Unauthorized burning | 42 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 31 | 4.7% |
For the 23 building fires reported here in 2025, here's how investigators classified ignition cause.
NFIRS Area of Origin for ZIP 98944 fires across 2021–2025.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 62 | 22.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 60 | 21.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 31 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 20 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | All other areas | 47 | 17.0% |
NFIRS HEAT_SOURC code — the physical thing that started the fire.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 142 | 51.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 19 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | All other sources | 41 | 14.9% |
Largest single-incident losses in ZIP 98944 across 2021–2025. These 8 fires alone account for 476% of the ZIP's 2025 reported total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Year | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,500,000 | Fire, other | 2023 | Major |
| 2 | $900,000 | Building fires | 2025 | Major |
| 3 | $500,000 | Building fires | 2022 | Major |
| 4 | $425,000 | Building fires | 2021 | Major |
| 5 | $200,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 2025 | Significant |
| 6 | $186,100 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | 2024 | Significant |
| 8 | $90,000 | Building fires | 2023 | Significant |
Some ZIPs span multiple cities. Ranked by 5-yr NFIRS incidents inside ZIP 98944.
Some ZIPs span multiple counties. The primary above is the largest by population weight; secondary counties are below.
| County | State | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yakima County | WA | 1.00 | FIPS 53077 |
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 — 658 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.