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2025 County Report

Fires in Decatur County, GA

In 2025, fire departments serving Decatur County responded to 329 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

15,481 residents FIPS 13087 17 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
329
2,109 across 5 years
Building fires
37
132 wildland
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Casualties
1 / 4
1 civ deaths · 3 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.

329
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 98 29.8%
Building fires 37 11.2%
Aircraft standby 37 11.2%
Authorized controlled burning 27 8.2%
Grass fire 25 7.6%
All other categories 105 31.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Decatur County?

Mar peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 34
Feb 28
Mar 42
Apr 27
May 22
Jun 15
Jul 21
Aug 17
Sep 41
Oct 37
Nov 26
Dec 19
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Decatur County

2,109 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 337
2022 586
2023 463
2024 394
2025 329
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 37 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
64%
43
Cause undetermined
1%
1
Intentional / arson
3%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
24%
16
Under investigation
1%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
7%
0
06 How Decatur County compares

Decatur County vs GA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

21.25
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Decatur County
21.25
GA avg
2.99
US avg
7.15
2.39
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Decatur County
2.39
GA avg
0.27
US avg
0.82
64.6
Civilian fire deaths per million
Decatur County
64.6
GA avg
3.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Decatur County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 13087.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Decatur County

3 departments report from this county.

Bainbridge DPS
BAINBRIDGE
FDID 04302 0 incidents 45 paid
CLIMAX VOL FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 04305 0 incidents
Cadwell FD Inactive
—
FDID 08704 0 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in GA

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
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

About this data

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.