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2025 County Report

Fires in Polk County, GA

In 2025, fire departments serving Polk County responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

17,043 residents FIPS 13233 17 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
24
1,692 across 5 years
Building fires
1
3 wildland
Property loss
$500
$0 structure · $500 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.

24
Total Incidents
Power line down 8 33.3%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 3 12.5%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 3 12.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 2 8.3%
Unauthorized burning 2 8.3%
All other categories 6 25.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Polk County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

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

Year over year in Polk County

1,692 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 432
2022 391
2023 511
2024 334
2025 24
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 1 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
25%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
25%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
50%
2
06 How Polk County compares

Polk County vs GA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

1.41
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Polk County
1.41
GA avg
2.99
US avg
7.15
0.06
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Polk County
0.06
GA avg
0.27
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Polk County
0
GA avg
3.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Polk County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 13233.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Polk County

3 departments report from this county.

Polk County Fire Rescue
Cedartown
FDID 11501 0 incidents 1 paid 83 vol
CEDARTOWN FIRE DEPARTMENT
Cedartown
FDID 11502 0 incidents 21 paid
Rockmart Fire Dept
Rockmart
FDID 11504 0 incidents 13 paid 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.