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2025 County Report

Fires in Polk County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Polk County responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $37K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

20,867 residents FIPS 48373 28 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
77
1,466 across 5 years
Building fires
7
28 wildland
Property loss
$120K
$76K structure · $44K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.

77
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 16 20.8%
Authorized controlled burning 11 14.3%
Building fires 7 9.1%
Passenger vehicle fire 5 6.5%
Grass fire 5 6.5%
All other categories 33 42.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Polk County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 4
Feb 6
Mar 12
Apr 12
May 6
Jun 6
Jul 4
Aug 11
Sep 9
Oct 7
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Polk County

1,466 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 349
2022 445
2023 428
2024 167
2025 77
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 7 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
64%
30
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
11%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
7
Under investigation
4%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
3
05 The biggest fires

7 fires · $76K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $37,000 ONALASKA Building fires Significant
2 $35,000 ONALASKA Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
3 $3,000 Onalaska Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
4 $1,000 ONALASKA Building fires Significant
5 $150 POLK COUNTY Outside rubbish fire, other Significant
6 $100 Corrigan Forest, woods or wildland fire Significant
7 $25 ONALASKA Outside rubbish fire, other Significant
06 How Polk County compares

Polk County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

3.69
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Polk County
3.69
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
0.34
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Polk County
0.34
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Polk County
0
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Polk County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48373.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Polk County

10 departments report from this county.

Corrigan VFD
Corrigan
FDID TB402 60 incidents 19 vol
Onalaska VFD
Onalaska
FDID TB306 26 incidents 20 vol
Segno VFD
Livingston
FDID TB208 0 incidents
Big Thicket Lake Estates VFD
—
FDID TB301 0 incidents
Indian Springs VFD
Livingston
FDID TB304 0 incidents 15 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.