In 2025, fire departments serving Columbia County responded to 639 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K 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 49% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Nov dips.
3,444 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 577 | |
| 2022 | 675 | |
| 2023 | 783 | |
| 2024 | 770 | |
| 2025 | 639 |
For the 76 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Columbia County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 55% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | LAKE CITY | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $400,000 | LAKE CITY | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major |
| 3 | $200,000 | LAKE CITY | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $200,000 | LAKE CITY | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 5 | $200,000 | LAKE CITY | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 6 | $150,000 | LAKE CITY | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 7 | $150,000 | LAKE CITY | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $150,000 | LAKE CITY | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 9 | $103,000 | LAKE CITY | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $100,000 | LAKE CITY | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 12023.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Lake City | 12,307 | View › |
| Watertown | 2,657 | View › |
| Five Points | 1,022 | View › |
| Fort White | 576 | View › |
| Benton | 0 | View › |
| Mount Carrie | 0 | View › |
| Winfield | 0 | View › |
| Deep Creek | 0 | View › |
| Mikesville | 0 | View › |
| Suwannee Valley | 0 | View › |
| Wilburn | 0 | View › |
| Mason | 0 | View › |
4 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.