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2025 County Report

Fires in DeSoto County, MS

In 2025, fire departments serving DeSoto County responded to 1,154 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

151,861 residents FIPS 28033 37 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
1,154
5,320 across 5 years
Building fires
104
193 wildland
Property loss
$9.8M
$7.7M structure · $2.2M contents
Casualties
1 / 2
1 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.

1,154
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 298 25.8%
Grass fire 124 10.7%
Building fires 104 9.0%
Power line down 88 7.6%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 68 5.9%
All other categories 472 40.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in DeSoto County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 127
Feb 110
Mar 183
Apr 114
May 109
Jun 68
Jul 45
Aug 135
Sep 133
Oct 98
Nov 13
Dec 19
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in DeSoto County

5,320 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 838
2022 388
2023 1,872
2024 1,068
2025 1,154
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 104 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
63%
153
Cause undetermined
10%
25
Intentional / arson
5%
11
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
17
Under investigation
12%
29
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
6
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $5.0M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in DeSoto County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 66% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,500,000 Southaven Building or structure weakened or collapsed Major
2 $1,000,000 Olive Branch Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
3 $500,000 Horn Lake Building fires Major
4 $500,000 Southaven Building fires Major
5 $300,000 Olive Branch Building fires Major
6 $300,000 Southaven Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
7 $300,000 Southaven Building fires Major
8 $275,000 Southaven Building fires Major
9 $200,000 Walls Building fires Significant
10 $175,000 Olive Branch Building fires Significant
06 How DeSoto County compares

DeSoto County vs MS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

7.6
Incidents per 1,000 residents
DeSoto County
7.6
MS avg
16.75
US avg
7.15
0.68
Building fires per 1,000 residents
DeSoto County
0.68
MS avg
2.71
US avg
0.82
6.6
Civilian fire deaths per million
DeSoto County
6.6
MS avg
22.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in DeSoto County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 28033.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in DeSoto County

8 departments report from this county.

Olive Branch FD
Olive Branch
FDID 17012 204 incidents 86 paid
Horn Lake Fire Station Three
Horn Lake
FDID 17007 111 incidents 38 paid
Walls VFD
Walls
FDID 17015 77 incidents
Eudora VFD
Hernando
FDID 17004 62 incidents 46 vol
PRENTISS FIRE DEPARTMENT
Prentiss
FDID 33004 58 incidents 3 paid 19 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MS

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Toms Camp 2023 USFS 5,301
2 Grand Bature Fire 2016 PRI 4,247
3 Range 40 2022 USFS 3,836
4 Range 12 2022 USFS 2,753
5 Baldy North 2023 USFS 2,093
6 Range 45 Northeast 2023 USFS 1,823
7 Indian Creek 2023 USFS 1,771
8 County Line 2023 USFS 1,554
9 Carson Six 2024 USFS 1,346
10 Parces Rd 2024 USFS 1,158

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.