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2025 County Report

Fires in Lauderdale County, MS

In 2025, fire departments serving Lauderdale County responded to 867 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

41,850 residents FIPS 28075 34 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
867
3,597 across 5 years
Building fires
172
197 wildland
Property loss
$5.1M
$3.8M structure · $1.3M contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 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 66% of all calls.

867
Total Incidents
Building fires 172 19.8%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 124 14.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 113 13.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 96 11.1%
Grass fire 65 7.5%
All other categories 297 34.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lauderdale County?

Oct peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 92
Feb 105
Mar 104
Apr 83
May 74
Jun 62
Jul 14
Aug 91
Sep 109
Oct 121
Nov 1
Dec 11
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lauderdale County

3,597 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 628
2022 280
2023 992
2024 830
2025 867
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 172 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
44%
91
Cause undetermined
10%
20
Intentional / arson
6%
12
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
17
Under investigation
26%
54
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
8
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lauderdale County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 87% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 Daleville Building fires Major
2 $1,000,000 Collinsville Building fires Major
3 $325,000 Meridian Building fires Major
4 $225,000 Meridian Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
5 $180,000 Meridian Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
6 $150,000 Meridian Building fires Significant
7 $150,000 Meridian Building fires Significant
8 $120,000 Meridian Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
9 $80,000 Meridian Building fires Significant
10 $80,000 Meridian Building fires Significant
06 How Lauderdale County compares

Lauderdale County vs MS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

20.72
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lauderdale County
20.72
MS avg
16.75
US avg
7.15
4.11
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lauderdale County
4.11
MS avg
2.71
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lauderdale County
0
MS avg
22.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lauderdale County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 28075.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lauderdale County

5 departments report from this county.

Long Creek VFD
MERIDIAN
FDID 38007 21 incidents 15 vol
Bailey VFD
BAILEY
FDID 38002 19 incidents 45 vol
Martin VFD
Collinsville
FDID 38010 17 incidents 24 vol
marion volfire rescue
Marion
FDID 38009 11 incidents 16 vol
Suqualena VFD
Meridian
FDID 38018 3 incidents 24 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.