Home› Counties› MS› Holmes County
2025 County Report

Fires in Holmes County, MS

In 2025, fire departments serving Holmes County responded to 167 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $80K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

8,411 residents FIPS 28051 39 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
167
372 across 5 years
Building fires
15
65 wildland
Property loss
$176K
$149K structure · $28K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 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 66% of all calls.

167
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 32 19.2%
Grass fire 31 18.6%
Passenger vehicle fire 19 11.4%
Building fires 15 9.0%
Fires in structures other than in a building 13 7.8%
All other categories 57 34.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Holmes County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 16
Feb 29
Mar 33
Apr 14
May 7
Jun 9
Jul 8
Aug 13
Sep 10
Oct 19
Nov 9
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Holmes County

372 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 2
2022 8
2023 5
2024 190
2025 167
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 15 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
67%
36
Cause undetermined
11%
6
Intentional / arson
7%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
5
Under investigation
2%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
1
05 The biggest fires

8 fires · $149K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Holmes County during 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $80,000 Tchula Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
2 $25,000 West Building fires Significant
3 $15,000 Tchula Building fires Significant
4 $9,000 Tchula Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $8,000 Tchula Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
6 $6,500 Lexington Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $5,000 Lexington Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue Significant
8 $200 West Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire Significant
06 How Holmes County compares

Holmes County vs MS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

19.85
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Holmes County
19.85
MS avg
16.75
US avg
7.15
1.78
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Holmes County
1.78
MS avg
2.71
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Holmes County
0
MS avg
22.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Holmes County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 28051.

09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MS

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Toms Camp 2023 USFS 5,301
2 Grand Bature Fire 2016 PRI 4,247
3 Range 40 2022 USFS 3,836
4 Range 12 2022 USFS 2,753
5 Baldy North 2023 USFS 2,093
6 Range 45 Northeast 2023 USFS 1,823
7 Indian Creek 2023 USFS 1,771
8 County Line 2023 USFS 1,554
9 Carson Six 2024 USFS 1,346
10 Parces Rd 2024 USFS 1,158

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.