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2025 County Report

Fires in Oglethorpe County, GA

In 2025, fire departments serving Oglethorpe County responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents.

2,397 residents FIPS 13221 15 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
22
424 across 5 years
Building fires
6
13 wildland
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 95% of all calls.

22
Total Incidents
Forest, woods or wildland fire 7 31.8%
Building fires 6 27.3%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 6 27.3%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1 4.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 1 4.5%
All other categories 1 4.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Oglethorpe County?

Feb peaks. Jul dips.

Jan 4
Feb 6
Mar 3
Apr 2
May 1
Jun 3
Jul 0
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 2
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Oglethorpe County

424 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 66
2022 126
2023 148
2024 62
2025 22
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 6 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
100%
6
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
06 How Oglethorpe County compares

Oglethorpe County vs GA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

9.18
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Oglethorpe County
9.18
GA avg
2.99
US avg
7.15
2.5
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Oglethorpe County
2.5
GA avg
0.27
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Oglethorpe County
0
GA avg
3.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Oglethorpe County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 13221.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Oglethorpe County

9 departments report from this county.

VESTA VFD Under County
—
FDID 10912 22 incidents
GLADE VFD Under Co
Carlton
FDID 10911 1 incidents
LEXINGTON VOL FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 10902 0 incidents
ARNOLDSVILLE VOL FIRE DEPT
Arnoldsville
FDID 10903 0 incidents 20 vol
SANDY CROSS VFD Under CO
PO BOX 10 Lexington
FDID 10905 0 incidents 6 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in GA

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 West Mims 2017 FWS 152,527
2 GAOKR-FY19-RX-Blackjack Island 2019 FWS 3,367
3 South Cut 2008 NPS 2,581
4 St. Catherines Island 2022 USFS 2,213
5 GAOKR-FY19-RX-Strange Island 2019 FWS 1,999
6 GAPDR-FY19-RX-6C/7S/8A/8B 2019 FWS 1,172
7 Barrow's Fire 2016 PRI 1,034
8 GAOKR-FY19-RX-Mitchell Island 2019 FWS 1,027
9 The Nicki Fire 2014 FWS 1,022
10 GAPDR-FY19-RX-27A/Stephens 2019 FWS 972

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.