Home› Counties› TX› Gonzales County
2025 County Report

Fires in Gonzales County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Gonzales County responded to 354 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $15K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

11,711 residents FIPS 48177 24 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
354
1,344 across 5 years
Building fires
20
120 wildland
Property loss
$82K
$67K structure · $15K contents
Casualties
2 / 6
2 civ deaths · 4 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.

354
Total Incidents
Grass fire 94 26.6%
Unauthorized burning 57 16.1%
Passenger vehicle fire 23 6.5%
Building fires 20 5.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 18 5.1%
All other categories 142 40.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Gonzales County?

Apr peaks. Jul dips.

Jan 24
Feb 32
Mar 36
Apr 39
May 22
Jun 22
Jul 21
Aug 35
Sep 27
Oct 28
Nov 34
Dec 34
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Gonzales County

1,344 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 152
2022 364
2023 239
2024 235
2025 354
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 20 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
68%
90
Cause undetermined
5%
6
Intentional / arson
6%
8
Equipment / heat source failure
10%
13
Under investigation
8%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
5
05 The biggest fires

8 fires · $67K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Gonzales County during 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $15,000 Gonzales Passenger vehicle fire Significant
2 $15,000 Gonzales Building fires Significant
3 $12,540 Gonzales Building fires Significant
4 $10,000 Leesville Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $10,000 Gonzales Building fires Significant
6 $2,500 Gonzales Fire, other Significant
7 $1,000 PAIGE Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
8 $840 Leesville Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other Significant
06 How Gonzales County compares

Gonzales County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

30.23
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Gonzales County
30.23
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
1.71
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Gonzales County
1.71
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
170.8
Civilian fire deaths per million
Gonzales County
170.8
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Gonzales County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48177.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Gonzales County

5 departments report from this county.

Gonzales FD
Gonzales
FDID HH501 231 incidents
Nixon FD
Nixon
FDID HH402 86 incidents 20 vol
Ottine VFD
Ottine
FDID HH403 26 incidents 10 vol
Belmont VFD
Belmont
FDID HH301 14 incidents
Waelder FD
Waelder
FDID HH404 0 incidents 16 vol
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.