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2025 County Report

Fires in Gillespie County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Gillespie County responded to 337 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $76K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

12,793 residents FIPS 48171 12 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
337
1,609 across 5 years
Building fires
11
111 wildland
Property loss
$372K
$206K structure · $166K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 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 67% of all calls.

337
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 88 26.1%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 82 24.3%
Authorized controlled burning 22 6.5%
Unauthorized burning 20 5.9%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 14 4.2%
All other categories 111 32.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Gillespie County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 29
Feb 33
Mar 59
Apr 26
May 39
Jun 18
Jul 31
Aug 29
Sep 16
Oct 21
Nov 21
Dec 15
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Gillespie County

1,609 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 323
2022 486
2023 268
2024 195
2025 337
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 11 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
49%
28
Cause undetermined
12%
7
Intentional / arson
12%
7
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
6
Under investigation
14%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $206K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Gillespie County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $76,000 Fredericksburg Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
2 $50,000 Fredericksburg Building fires Significant
3 $40,000 Fredericksburg Building fires Significant
4 $12,000 Fredericksburg Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $10,000 Fredericksburg Building fires Significant
6 $5,000 Fredericksburg Building fires Significant
7 $5,000 Fredericksburg Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $4,500 Fredericksburg Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $2,500 Fredericksburg Cooking fire, confined to container Significant
10 $500 Fredericksburg Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
06 How Gillespie County compares

Gillespie County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

26.34
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Gillespie County
26.34
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
0.86
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Gillespie County
0.86
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Gillespie County
0
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Gillespie County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48171.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Gillespie County

5 departments report from this county.

Fredericksburg VFD
Fredricksburg
FDID HC502 300 incidents
Harper VFD
Harper
FDID HC403 16 incidents
Tierra Linda VFD
Kerrville
FDID HC201 0 incidents
Stonewall VFD
Stonewall
FDID HC304 0 incidents
Willow City VFD
Willow City
FDID HC305 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.