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2025 County Report

Fires in Johnson County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Johnson County responded to 1,965 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $600K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

115,220 residents FIPS 48251 19 cities · 17 fire depts
Total incidents
1,965
10,301 across 5 years
Building fires
318
309 wildland
Property loss
$8.9M
$6.6M structure · $2.3M contents
Casualties
4 / 2
4 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.

1,965
Total Incidents
Building fires 318 16.2%
Grass fire 176 9.0%
Power line down 161 8.2%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 153 7.8%
Unauthorized burning 137 7.0%
All other categories 1,020 51.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Johnson County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 154
Feb 134
Mar 342
Apr 152
May 136
Jun 62
Jul 150
Aug 164
Sep 217
Oct 267
Nov 156
Dec 31
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Johnson County

10,301 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,995
2022 3,098
2023 1,776
2024 1,467
2025 1,965
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 318 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
46%
180
Cause undetermined
21%
82
Intentional / arson
10%
39
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
42
Under investigation
9%
34
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
14
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Johnson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 40% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $600,000 Burleson Building fires Major
2 $420,000 Venus Building fires Major
3 $300,000 Burleson Building fires Major
4 $300,000 Burleson Building fires Major
5 $240,000 Alvarado Building fires Significant
6 $200,000 Burleson Building fires Significant
7 $200,000 Godley Building fires Significant
8 $200,000 Burleson Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
9 $100,000 Burleson Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 Godley Grass fire Significant
06 How Johnson County compares

Johnson County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

17.05
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Johnson County
17.05
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
2.76
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Johnson County
2.76
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
34.7
Civilian fire deaths per million
Johnson County
34.7
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Johnson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48251.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Johnson County

17 departments report from this county.

Burleson FD
Burleson
FDID NP603 444 incidents
Cleburne FD
Cleburne
FDID NP604 286 incidents
Johnson County ESD1
Cleburne
FDID NP701 263 incidents
Alvarado FD
Alvarado
FDID NP401 187 incidents
Godley FD
Godley
FDID NP305 175 incidents
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.