In 2025, fire departments serving Hardee County responded to 228 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $160K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Sep dips.
1,283 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 274 | |
| 2022 | 322 | |
| 2023 | 271 | |
| 2024 | 188 | |
| 2025 | 228 |
For the 12 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Hardee County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 97% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $160,000 | Bowling Green | Building fires | Significant |
| 2 | $110,000 | Bowling Green | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant |
| 3 | $90,000 | Zolfo Springs | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 4 | $41,000 | Zolfo Springs | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 5 | $25,000 | Wauchula | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 6 | $20,000 | Bowling Green | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 7 | $18,000 | Bowling Green | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 8 | $10,000 | Zolfo Springs | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant |
| 9 | $6,000 | Zolfo Springs | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 10 | $5,000 | Bowling Green | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 12049.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Wauchula | 4,898 | View › |
| Bowling Green | 2,484 | View › |
| Zolfo Springs | 1,759 | View › |
| Lemon Grove | 610 | View › |
| Fort Green Springs | 573 | View › |
| Gardner | 493 | View › |
| Ona | 435 | View › |
| Fort Green | 105 | View › |
| Limestone | 32 | View › |
| Crewsville | 0 | View › |
| Moffitt | 0 | View › |
| Bridges | 0 | View › |
3 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DOF Prarie Fire | 2011 | NPS | 68,028 |
| 2 | CP3 RX | 2021 | NPS | 66,918 |
| 3 | Buzzard | 2018 | NPS | 62,454 |
| 4 | Tarpon (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 52,542 |
| 5 | CP-2 Exotics (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 49,703 |
| 6 | EVER CP3 Exotics Rx | 2024 | NPS | 47,986 |
| 7 | ROG-South (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 47,619 |
| 8 | ROG-South/Southern Glades | 2020 | NPS | 43,751 |
| 9 | BICY Kirby Rx FY24 | 2024 | NPS | 39,765 |
| 10 | Mustang Corner | 2008 | NPS | 39,423 |
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.