In 2025, fire departments serving Charlotte County responded to 871 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $778K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips.
5,841 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,253 | |
| 2022 | 1,505 | |
| 2023 | 932 | |
| 2024 | 1,280 | |
| 2025 | 871 |
For the 59 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Charlotte County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 70% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $777,777 | Port Charlotte | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major |
| 2 | $777,777 | Port Charlotte | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major |
| 3 | $777,777 | Port Charlotte | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major |
| 4 | $600,000 | Cape Haze | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $600,000 | Port Charlotte | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $204,200 | Punta Gorda | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $150,000 | Port Charlotte | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $128,000 | Punta Gorda | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant |
| 9 | $128,000 | Punta Gorda | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant |
| 10 | $128,000 | Punta Gorda | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 12015.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Port Charlotte | 63,913 | View › |
| Punta Gorda | 19,605 | View › |
| Rotonda | 10,233 | View › |
| Charlotte Harbor | 4,516 | View › |
| Harbour Heights | 4,145 | View › |
| Cleveland | 2,466 | View › |
| Grove City | 1,824 | View › |
| Charlotte Park | 1,795 | View › |
| Manasota Key | 1,718 | View › |
| Solana | 1,062 | View › |
| Bermont | 0 | View › |
| Punta Gorda Beach | 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 | DOF Prarie Fire | 2011 | NPS | 68,028 |
| 2 | CP3 RX | 2021 | NPS | 66,918 |
| 3 | Buzzard | 2018 | NPS | 62,454 |
| 4 | Tarpon (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 52,542 |
| 5 | CP-2 Exotics (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 49,703 |
| 6 | EVER CP3 Exotics Rx | 2024 | NPS | 47,986 |
| 7 | ROG-South (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 47,619 |
| 8 | ROG-South/Southern Glades | 2020 | NPS | 43,751 |
| 9 | BICY Kirby Rx FY24 | 2024 | NPS | 39,765 |
| 10 | Mustang Corner | 2008 | NPS | 39,423 |
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.