Home› Texas› Edcouch
2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Edcouch, Texas

In 2025, fire departments serving Edcouch responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B- Peak yr 2024 Hidalgo County 2,754 residents 1 reporting departments 175 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Edcouch's departments reported 19 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 35 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
19
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
2
Residential 50% Other 50%
Property loss
$121K
$61K structure · $60K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.

19
Total Incidents
Grass fire 6 31.6%
Building fires 2 10.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 10.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 2 10.5%
Attempted burning, illegal action, other 2 10.5%
All other categories 5 26.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 5
Feb 3
Mar 10
Apr 0
May 0
Jun 0
Jul 0
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 1
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Edcouch

175 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $87K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021* 16 —
2022 25 —
2023 34 +36.0%
2024 81 +138.2%
2025* 19 —

* Well below Edcouch's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 2 building fires Edcouch departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
10%
1
Cause undetermined
60%
6
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
10%
1
Under investigation
20%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Edcouch?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 84 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.

#Area of originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 50 59.5%
2 Outside area, other 15 17.9%
3 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 6 7.1%
4 Other 2 2.4%
5 Cooking area, kitchen 2 2.4%
6 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 2 2.4%
7 Corridor, mall 1 1.2%
8 Function area, other 1 1.2%
9 Storage area, other 1 1.2%
10 Vehicle area, other 1 1.2%
11 All other areas 3 3.6%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Edcouch mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 71 84.5%
2 Hot ember or ash 3 3.6%
3 Hot or smoldering object, other 2 2.4%
4 Heat source: other 1 1.2%
5 Heat from powered equipment, other 1 1.2%
6 Arcing 1 1.2%
7 Molten, hot material 1 1.2%
8 Explosive, fireworks, other 1 1.2%
9 Fireworks 1 1.2%
10 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 1 1.2%
11 All other sources 1 1.2%
04 The biggest fires

3 fires · $61K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Edcouch departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $50,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
2 $10,000 Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant Investigated
3 $1,000 Passenger vehicle fire Significant Investigated
05 How Edcouch compares

Edcouch vs Texas vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Edcouch sits below the national average for incidents per resident.

6.9
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Edcouch
6.9
TX avg
7.68
US avg
7.48
0.73
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Edcouch
0.73
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Edcouch
0
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Edcouch

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 83,898 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 25,600 20.5 mi
2017 Power generation/transmission/distribution 8,000 48.8 mi
2011 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 8,000 31.7 mi
2011 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 3,200 42.5 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 3,010 44.6 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,600 23.1 mi
2007 Debris and open burning 2,500 47.6 mi
2008 Debris and open burning 2,500 44.3 mi
2002 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,500 43.9 mi
2011 Equipment and vehicle use 2,500 49.1 mi
2008 Debris and open burning 2,300 47.1 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 2,200 47.0 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Edcouch do fires concentrate?

Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 78538 161
2 78543 10
3 78599 3
4 78545 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Edcouch

Six Texas cities with population within ±25% of Edcouch. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in Edcouch?

1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Edcouch.

Edcouch VFD
PO Box 734
FDID KN403
07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.