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2025 County Report

Fires in Kaufman County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Kaufman County responded to 1,345 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $444K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

87,718 residents FIPS 48257 32 cities · 13 fire depts
Total incidents
1,345
6,663 across 5 years
Building fires
121
184 wildland
Property loss
$2.9M
$2.2M structure · $700K contents
Casualties
0 / 3
0 civ deaths · 3 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.

1,345
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 273 20.3%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 224 16.7%
Power line down 131 9.7%
Building fires 121 9.0%
Grass fire 110 8.2%
All other categories 486 36.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Kaufman County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 137
Feb 99
Mar 208
Apr 112
May 95
Jun 87
Jul 100
Aug 108
Sep 107
Oct 131
Nov 118
Dec 43
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Kaufman County

6,663 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,148
2022 1,686
2023 1,445
2024 1,039
2025 1,345
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 121 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
36%
97
Cause undetermined
28%
74
Intentional / arson
9%
23
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
19
Under investigation
18%
49
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
5
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.5M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Kaufman County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 67% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $443,764 Scurry Building fires Major
2 $275,000 KAUFMAN Structure fire, other (conversion only) Major
3 $213,465 TERRELL Building fires Significant
4 $200,000 FORNEY Building fires Significant
5 $78,000 Scurry Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $75,000 TERRELL Building fires Significant
7 $60,000 Scurry Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
8 $57,000 Scurry Building fires Significant
9 $50,000 Terrell Building fires Significant
10 $50,000 Forney Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Kaufman County compares

Kaufman County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

15.33
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Kaufman County
15.33
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
1.38
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Kaufman County
1.38
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Kaufman County
0
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Kaufman County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48257.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Kaufman County

13 departments report from this county.

Forney VFD
Forney
FDID NT403 431 incidents
Kaufman VFD
Kaufman
FDID NT504 350 incidents
Terrell FD
Terrell
FDID NT608 206 incidents
Kemp VFD
Kemp
FDID NT405 108 incidents
Terrell VFD
Terrell
FDID NT609 106 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.