Home› Counties› TX› Erath County
2025 County Report

Fires in Erath County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Erath County responded to 353 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

24,956 residents FIPS 48143 21 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
353
1,422 across 5 years
Building fires
33
95 wildland
Property loss
$2.4M
$1.1M structure · $1.3M contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.

353
Total Incidents
Grass fire 53 15.0%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 42 11.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 35 9.9%
Building fires 33 9.3%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 31 8.8%
All other categories 159 45.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Erath County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 35
Feb 52
Mar 54
Apr 26
May 28
Jun 9
Jul 26
Aug 42
Sep 39
Oct 29
Nov 13
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Erath County

1,422 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 220
2022 345
2023 199
2024 305
2025 353
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 33 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
38%
39
Cause undetermined
25%
26
Intentional / arson
9%
9
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
9
Under investigation
12%
12
Act of nature (lightning)
7%
9
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $971K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Erath County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 89% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Dublin Building fires Major
2 $200,000 Dublin Building fires Significant
3 $100,000 Dublin Building fires Significant
4 $100,000 STEPHENVILLE Building fires Significant
5 $86,560 Stephenville Building fires Significant
6 $75,000 Erath Co Building fires Significant
7 $74,000 Dublin Building fires Significant
8 $38,000 Stephenville Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $27,085 Stephenville Building fires Significant
10 $20,000 Stephenville Building fires Significant
06 How Erath County compares

Erath County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

14.14
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Erath County
14.14
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
1.32
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Erath County
1.32
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Erath County
0
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Erath County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48143.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Erath County

11 departments report from this county.

Stephenville FD
Stephenville
FDID GD504 164 incidents
Erath County VFD
Stephenville
FDID GD601 97 incidents
Dublin FD
Dublin
FDID GD402 70 incidents
Morgan Mill VFD
Morgan Mill
FDID GD203 0 incidents 25 vol
Bluff Dale VFD
Bluff Dale
FDID GD301 0 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in TX

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
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

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.