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2025 County Report

Fires in Henderson County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Henderson County responded to 821 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

37,786 residents FIPS 48213 29 cities · 28 fire depts
Total incidents
821
6,687 across 5 years
Building fires
132
133 wildland
Property loss
$1.8M
$1.5M structure · $254K contents
Casualties
0 / 6
0 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 4 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.

821
Total Incidents
Building fires 132 16.1%
Unauthorized burning 132 16.1%
Power line down 90 11.0%
Grass fire 85 10.4%
Authorized controlled burning 44 5.4%
All other categories 338 41.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Henderson County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 76
Feb 70
Mar 122
Apr 86
May 83
Jun 49
Jul 81
Aug 59
Sep 48
Oct 67
Nov 48
Dec 32
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Henderson County

6,687 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,383
2022 2,146
2023 1,494
2024 843
2025 821
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 132 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
42%
102
Cause undetermined
15%
37
Intentional / arson
7%
18
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
12
Under investigation
26%
63
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
10
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Henderson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 92% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 Gun Barrel City Building fires Major
2 $200,000 Gun Barrel City Building fires Significant
3 $193,670 MURCHISON Building fires Significant
4 $104,673 MABANK Building fires Significant
5 $100,000 Gun Barrel City Building fires Significant
6 $100,000 KAUFMAN COUNTY Building fires Significant
7 $97,343 MABANK Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
8 $39,973 MABANK Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
9 $35,000 MABANK Building fires Significant
10 $32,635 MABANK Building fires Significant
06 How Henderson County compares

Henderson County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

21.73
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Henderson County
21.73
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
3.49
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Henderson County
3.49
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Henderson County
0
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Henderson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48213.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Henderson County

28 departments report from this county.

Payne Springs VFD
Payne Springs
FDID KK214 231 incidents
Gun Barrel City FD
Gun Barrel City
FDID KK409 191 incidents
Athens FD
Athens
FDID KK601 176 incidents
District 8 Fire Rescue
Murchison
FDID KK313 158 incidents 18 vol
Coffee City VFD
Frankston
FDID KK206 45 incidents 11 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.