In 2025, fire departments serving Ben Hill County responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $40K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips.
611 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 133 | |
| 2022 | 178 | |
| 2023 | 118 | |
| 2024 | 170 | |
| 2025 | 12 |
For the 2 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Ben Hill County during 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Fitzgerald | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 2 | $10,000 | Fitzgerald | Outside storage fire | Significant |
| 3 | $5,000 | Fitzgerald | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant |
| 4 | $5,000 | Fitzgerald | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
7 cities mapped to FIPS 13017.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Fitzgerald | 8,972 | View › |
| Westwood | 0 | View › |
| Lulaville | 0 | View › |
| Ashton | 0 | View › |
| Bowens Mill | 0 | View › |
| Queensland | 0 | View › |
| Red Bluff | 0 | View › |
2 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Mims | 2017 | FWS | 152,527 |
| 2 | GAOKR-FY19-RX-Blackjack Island | 2019 | FWS | 3,367 |
| 3 | South Cut | 2008 | NPS | 2,581 |
| 4 | St. Catherines Island | 2022 | USFS | 2,213 |
| 5 | GAOKR-FY19-RX-Strange Island | 2019 | FWS | 1,999 |
| 6 | GAPDR-FY19-RX-6C/7S/8A/8B | 2019 | FWS | 1,172 |
| 7 | Barrow's Fire | 2016 | PRI | 1,034 |
| 8 | GAOKR-FY19-RX-Mitchell Island | 2019 | FWS | 1,027 |
| 9 | The Nicki Fire | 2014 | FWS | 1,022 |
| 10 | GAPDR-FY19-RX-27A/Stephens | 2019 | FWS | 972 |
County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.