In 2025, fire departments serving Cameron County responded to 1,810 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips.
8,390 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,941 | |
| 2022 | 1,203 | |
| 2023 | 1,807 | |
| 2024 | 1,629 | |
| 2025 | 1,810 |
For the 109 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Cameron County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 56% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | BROWNSVILLE | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $500,000 | South Padre Isalnd | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $250,000 | San Benito | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $250,000 | BROWNSVILLE | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $200,000 | Brownsville | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $200,000 | BROWNSVILLE | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 7 | $200,000 | BROWNSVILLE | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $180,000 | BROWNSVILLE | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $150,000 | San Benito | Fire, other | Significant |
| 10 | $150,000 | BROWNSVILLE | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 48061.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Brownsville | 186,999 | View › |
| Harlingen | 71,497 | View › |
| San Benito | 24,766 | View › |
| Los Fresnos | 8,081 | View › |
| La Feria | 6,848 | View › |
| Cameron Park | 5,830 | View › |
| Primera | 5,219 | View › |
| Port Isabel | 5,137 | View › |
| Laureles | 3,818 | View › |
| Laguna Vista | 3,555 | View › |
| Combes | 3,141 | View › |
| Santa Rosa | 3,093 | View › |
11 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 | Smokehouse Creek | 2024 | SF | 1,054,154 |
| 2 | Rock House | 2011 | NPS | 314,377 |
| 3 | Potter#1FP (Fain Plant) | 2006 | NPS | 22,040 |
| 4 | Cane | 2017 | NPS | 14,240 |
| 5 | WF HOLIDAY 1 & 2 | 2012 | FWS | 14,181 |
| 6 | PAIS Front Country S. FY20 RX (ADD-ON) | 2020 | NPS | 13,339 |
| 7 | Laguna 24 | 2024 | NPS | 12,385 |
| 8 | CUTOFF | 2010 | NPS | 10,280 |
| 9 | WF Unit 1 1/2 | 2015 | FWS | 7,657 |
| 10 | Big Canyon | 1990 | NPS | 7,432 |
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.