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2025 County Report

Fires in Newton County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Newton County responded to 61 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

3,135 residents FIPS 48351 19 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
61
89 across 5 years
Building fires
8
15 wildland
Property loss
$515K
$515K structure · $0 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 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 46% of all calls.

61
Total Incidents
Building fires 8 13.1%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 7 11.5%
Outside rubbish fire, other 5 8.2%
Passenger vehicle fire 4 6.6%
Natural vegetation fire, other 4 6.6%
All other categories 33 54.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Newton County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 0
Feb 1
Mar 13
Apr 5
May 3
Jun 6
Jul 13
Aug 13
Sep 6
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Newton County

89 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1
2022 6
2023 16
2024 5
2025 61
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 8 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
23%
5
Cause undetermined
32%
7
Intentional / arson
9%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
3
Under investigation
5%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
17%
4
05 The biggest fires

7 fires · $515K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Newton County during 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 UNINCORPORATED Outside storage fire Major
2 $140,000 UNINCORPORATED Building fires Significant
3 $80,000 UNINCORPORATED Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
4 $40,000 UNINCORPORATED Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $3,000 UNINCORPORATED Building fires Significant
6 $1,000 UNINCORPORATED Outside equipment fire Significant
7 $500 UNINCORPORATED Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Newton County compares

Newton County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

19.46
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Newton County
19.46
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
2.55
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Newton County
2.55
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Newton County
0
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Newton County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48351.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Newton County

6 departments report from this county.

Newton County ESD5
Buna
FDID SK306 0 incidents
Bon Wier VFD
Bon Wier
FDID SK307 0 incidents 10 vol
Burkeville VFD
Burkeville
FDID SK401 0 incidents 12 vol
Deweyville FD
Deweyville
FDID SK402 0 incidents
Newton VFD
Newton
FDID SK403 0 incidents 22 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.