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2025 County Report

Fires in Lamar County, MS

In 2025, fire departments serving Lamar County responded to 513 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.6M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

15,599 residents FIPS 28073 22 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
513
2,032 across 5 years
Building fires
98
205 wildland
Property loss
$6.2M
$4.8M structure · $1.3M contents
Casualties
2 / 0
2 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.

513
Total Incidents
Building fires 98 19.1%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 78 15.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 68 13.3%
Grass fire 59 11.5%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 32 6.2%
All other categories 178 34.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lamar County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 54
Feb 78
Mar 94
Apr 35
May 35
Jun 23
Jul 8
Aug 29
Sep 74
Oct 73
Nov 7
Dec 3
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lamar County

2,032 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 292
2022 143
2023 592
2024 492
2025 513
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 98 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
45%
44
Cause undetermined
20%
20
Intentional / arson
4%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
9
Under investigation
18%
18
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lamar County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 66% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,600,000 Lumberton Building fires Major
2 $200,000 Sumrall Building fires Significant
3 $200,000 Purvis Building fires Significant
4 $185,370 Purvis Building fires Significant
5 $184,600 Lumberton Building fires Significant
6 $175,000 Sumrall Building fires Significant
7 $175,000 Lumberton Building fires Significant
8 $175,000 Lumberton Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $156,500 Lumberton Building fires Significant
10 $155,000 Purvis Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
06 How Lamar County compares

Lamar County vs MS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

32.89
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lamar County
32.89
MS avg
16.75
US avg
7.15
6.28
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lamar County
6.28
MS avg
2.71
US avg
0.82
128.2
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lamar County
128.2
MS avg
22.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lamar County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 28073.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lamar County

7 departments report from this county.

Central Lamar VFD
Purvis
FDID 37002 86 incidents 3 paid 21 vol
Southwest Lamar VFD
Lumberton
FDID 37001 82 incidents
Northeast Station 1
Hattiesburg
FDID 37005 63 incidents 2 paid 21 vol
Oak Grove
Hattiesburg
FDID 37006 61 incidents 2 paid 23 vol
Sumrall
Sumrall
FDID 37010 56 incidents 26 vol
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.