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2025 County Report

Fires in Grayson County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Grayson County responded to 2,009 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

98,991 residents FIPS 48181 40 cities · 20 fire depts
Total incidents
2,009
10,026 across 5 years
Building fires
190
321 wildland
Property loss
$12.7M
$10.2M structure · $2.5M contents
Casualties
5 / 0
5 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.

2,009
Total Incidents
Power line down 293 14.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 275 13.7%
Grass fire 202 10.1%
Authorized controlled burning 198 9.9%
Building fires 190 9.5%
All other categories 851 42.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Grayson County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 201
Feb 160
Mar 295
Apr 161
May 255
Jun 186
Jul 147
Aug 123
Sep 163
Oct 166
Nov 112
Dec 40
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Grayson County

10,026 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,834
2022 2,297
2023 1,943
2024 1,943
2025 2,009
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 190 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
44%
189
Cause undetermined
16%
68
Intentional / arson
12%
50
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
47
Under investigation
11%
48
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
27
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $5.0M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Grayson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 49% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 WHITESBORO Building fires Major
2 $800,000 GRAYSON COUNTY Building fires Major
3 $525,000 Whitewright Building fires Major
4 $500,000 GRAYSON COUNTY Building fires Major
5 $465,000 Denison Building fires Major
6 $400,000 Van Alstyne Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
7 $395,000 Sherman Building fires Major
8 $300,000 Dorchester Building fires Major
9 $300,000 Dorchester Building fires Major
10 $300,000 DENISON Building fires Major
06 How Grayson County compares

Grayson County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

20.29
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Grayson County
20.29
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
1.92
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Grayson County
1.92
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
50.5
Civilian fire deaths per million
Grayson County
50.5
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Grayson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48181.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Grayson County

20 departments report from this county.

Sherman FD
Sherman
FDID HN608 491 incidents
Denison FD
—
FDID HN601 463 incidents
Van Alstyne FD
Van Alstyne
FDID HN411 322 incidents
Whitesboro VFD
Whitesboro
FDID HN512 145 incidents
Collinsville FD
Collinsville
FDID HN302 80 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.