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2025 County Report

Fires in Panola County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Panola County responded to 133 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $50K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

7,636 residents FIPS 48365 16 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
133
1,019 across 5 years
Building fires
11
9 wildland
Property loss
$181K
$148K structure · $34K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 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 59% of all calls.

133
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 20 15.0%
Unauthorized burning 18 13.5%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 16 12.0%
Passenger vehicle fire 13 9.8%
Building fires 11 8.3%
All other categories 55 41.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Panola County?

Aug peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 12
Feb 7
Mar 9
Apr 9
May 11
Jun 8
Jul 12
Aug 17
Sep 11
Oct 13
Nov 12
Dec 12
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Panola County

1,019 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 169
2022 319
2023 233
2024 165
2025 133
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 11 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
71%
27
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
5%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
21%
8
Under investigation
3%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $148K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Panola County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $50,000 Carthage Building fires Significant
2 $37,820 Deberry Building fires Significant
3 $25,000 Carthage Building fires Significant
4 $15,000 Carthage Building fires Significant
5 $10,000 Carthage Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $3,000 Carthage Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $2,500 Carthage Building fires Significant
8 $2,000 Carthage Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
9 $1,700 Carthage Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $500 Carthage Special outside fire, other Significant
06 How Panola County compares

Panola County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

17.42
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Panola County
17.42
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
1.44
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Panola County
1.44
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Panola County
0
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Panola County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48365.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Panola County

5 departments report from this county.

Carthage VFD
Carthage
FDID SX302 135 incidents 7 paid 28 vol
Flatwoods FD
Carthage
FDID SX103 0 incidents
Clayton FD
Clayton
FDID SX201 0 incidents
Community Four VFD
De Berry
FDID SX303 0 incidents
Inter Community FD
De Berry
FDID SX401 0 incidents
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.