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2025 County Report

Fires in Hernando County, FL

In 2025, fire departments serving Hernando County responded to 925 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $950K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

169,837 residents FIPS 12053 34 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
925
5,444 across 5 years
Building fires
46
120 wildland
Property loss
$3.7M
$3.2M structure · $477K contents
Casualties
1 / 0
1 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.

925
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 343 37.1%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 86 9.3%
Fire, other 49 5.3%
Building fires 46 5.0%
Passenger vehicle fire 43 4.6%
All other categories 358 38.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Hernando County?

Jan peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 173
Feb 145
Mar 142
Apr 153
May 121
Jun 75
Jul 61
Aug 54
Sep 1
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Hernando County

5,444 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 992
2022 965
2023 1,380
2024 1,182
2025 925
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 46 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
145
Cause undetermined
17%
49
Intentional / arson
10%
28
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
33
Under investigation
4%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
8%
24
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Hernando County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 70% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $950,000 HERNANDO BEACH Water vehicle fire Major
2 $310,000 BROOKSVILLE Building fires Major
3 $177,000 HERNANDO COUNTY Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
4 $175,000 Brooksville Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 SPRING HILL Building fires Significant
6 $150,000 SPRING HILL Fire, other Significant
7 $100,000 Brooksville Building fires Significant
8 $90,000 SPRING HILL Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $80,000 BROOKSVILLE Building fires Significant
10 $75,000 WEEKI WACHEE Building fires Significant
06 How Hernando County compares

Hernando County vs FL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

5.45
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hernando County
5.45
FL avg
5.32
US avg
7.15
0.27
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hernando County
0.27
FL avg
0.42
US avg
0.82
5.9
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hernando County
5.9
FL avg
4.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Hernando County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 12053.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Hernando County

7 departments report from this county.

HERNANDO COUNTY FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES
Brooksville
FDID 40040 970 incidents
BROOKSVILLE FIRE DEPT
Brooksville
FDID 40012 66 incidents 20 paid
HERNANDO HIGHPOINT VFD
—
FDID 40011 0 incidents 25 vol
NW HERNANDO CO FIRE PROT DIST
—
FDID 40032 0 incidents
TRICOUNTY FD
—
FDID 40051 0 incidents 20 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in FL

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
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

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.