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2025 County Report

Fires in Potter County, TX

In 2025, fire departments serving Potter County responded to 2,946 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $750K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

203,242 residents FIPS 48375 15 cities · 2 fire depts
Total incidents
2,946
12,761 across 5 years
Building fires
222
139 wildland
Property loss
$9.9M
$8.1M structure · $1.8M contents
Casualties
2 / 10
2 civ deaths · 4 civ inj · 6 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.

2,946
Total Incidents
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 782 26.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 448 15.2%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 256 8.7%
Building fires 222 7.5%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 169 5.7%
All other categories 1,069 36.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Potter County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 294
Feb 246
Mar 355
Apr 253
May 234
Jun 243
Jul 275
Aug 274
Sep 260
Oct 247
Nov 250
Dec 15
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Potter County

12,761 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,761
2022 2,402
2023 2,516
2024 3,136
2025 2,946
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 222 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
42%
236
Cause undetermined
26%
146
Intentional / arson
7%
40
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
40
Under investigation
14%
81
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.0M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Potter County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 37% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $750,000 POTTER COUNTY Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
2 $490,000 LKTW Building fires Major
3 $300,000 POTTER COUNTY Building fires Major
4 $300,000 Amarillo Building fires Major
5 $300,000 RandallCounty Building fires Major
6 $185,828 Amarillo Building fires Significant
7 $183,418 Amarillo Building fires Significant
8 $160,106 RandallCounty Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
9 $150,000 Amarillo Building fires Significant
10 $140,583 Amarillo Building fires Significant
06 How Potter County compares

Potter County vs TX vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

14.5
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Potter County
14.5
TX avg
7.69
US avg
7.15
1.09
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Potter County
1.09
TX avg
0.7
US avg
0.82
9.8
Civilian fire deaths per million
Potter County
9.8
TX avg
5.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Potter County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 48375.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Potter County

2 departments report from this county.

Amarillo FD
Amarillo
FDID TC701 2,565 incidents
Potter County FR
Amarillo
FDID TC501 162 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.