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2025 County Report

Fires in Hardin County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Hardin County responded to 378 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $450K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

27,265 residents FIPS 48199 22 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
378
1,939 across 5 years
Building fires
38
92 wildland
Property loss
$1.9M
$1.4M structure · $521K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 1 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 42% of all calls.

378
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 45 11.9%
Building fires 38 10.1%
Power line down 27 7.1%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 26 6.9%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 24 6.3%
All other categories 218 57.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Hardin County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 36
Feb 30
Mar 59
Apr 17
May 28
Jun 25
Jul 28
Aug 34
Sep 37
Oct 48
Nov 36
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Hardin County

1,939 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 304
2022 451
2023 472
2024 334
2025 378
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 38 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
40%
64
Cause undetermined
11%
17
Intentional / arson
19%
31
Equipment / heat source failure
10%
16
Under investigation
13%
21
Act of nature (lightning)
7%
10
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Hardin County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 77% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $450,000 Lumberton Building fires Major
2 $150,000 winnie Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
3 $150,000 Silsbee Building fires Significant
4 $50,000 Silsbee Building fires Significant
5 $50,000 Silsbee Building fires Significant
6 $50,000 Sour Lake Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
7 $45,000 Silsbee Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
8 $40,000 Silsbee Building fires Significant
9 $40,000 Silsbee Building fires Significant
10 $30,000 Lumberton Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
06 How Hardin County compares

Hardin County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.86
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hardin County
13.86
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
1.39
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hardin County
1.39
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hardin County
0
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Hardin County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48199.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Hardin County

11 departments report from this county.

Silsbee VFD
Silsbee
FDID HZ505 196 incidents 40 vol
Lumberton FR
Lumberton
FDID HZ503 95 incidents 70 vol
Hardin County ESD5
Sour Lake
FDID HZ507 46 incidents
Saratoga VFD
Saratoga
FDID HZ304 26 incidents
Kountze VFD
Kountze
FDID HZ402 19 incidents 30 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.