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2025 County Report

Fires in Rankin County, MS

In 2025, fire departments serving Rankin County responded to 887 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $300K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

79,997 residents FIPS 28121 39 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
887
4,059 across 5 years
Building fires
102
229 wildland
Property loss
$3.1M
$2.1M structure · $999K contents
Casualties
1 / 2
1 civ deaths · 2 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 58% of all calls.

887
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 152 17.1%
Building fires 102 11.5%
Grass fire 98 11.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 91 10.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 73 8.2%
All other categories 371 41.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Rankin County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 83
Feb 104
Mar 137
Apr 98
May 76
Jun 41
Jul 33
Aug 91
Sep 99
Oct 96
Nov 4
Dec 25
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Rankin County

4,059 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 558
2022 436
2023 1,124
2024 1,054
2025 887
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 102 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
59%
144
Cause undetermined
13%
31
Intentional / arson
2%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
13%
32
Under investigation
9%
23
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
11
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.6M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Rankin County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 73% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $300,000 Brandon Building fires Major
2 $250,000 Brandon Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
3 $200,000 City of Florence Building fires Significant
4 $200,000 Pearl Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 Pelahatchie Building fires Significant
6 $140,000 City of Brandon Building fires Significant
7 $120,000 Brandon Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
8 $75,000 City of Richland Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
9 $71,700 City of Richland Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
10 $50,000 City of Florence Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Rankin County compares

Rankin County vs MS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.09
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Rankin County
11.09
MS avg
16.75
US avg
7.15
1.28
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Rankin County
1.28
MS avg
2.71
US avg
0.82
12.5
Civilian fire deaths per million
Rankin County
12.5
MS avg
22.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Rankin County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 28121.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Rankin County

7 departments report from this county.

Reservoir Fire Protection Dist
Brandon
FDID 61018 101 incidents 31 paid 23 vol
Station 5
BRANDON
FDID 61001 99 incidents 43 paid
Florence VFD
Florence
FDID 61006 79 incidents 20 vol
Leesburg VFD
Pelahatchie
FDID 61010 31 incidents 38 vol
Robinhood VFD
Brandon
FDID 61020 31 incidents 29 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MS

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Toms Camp 2023 USFS 5,301
2 Grand Bature Fire 2016 PRI 4,247
3 Range 40 2022 USFS 3,836
4 Range 12 2022 USFS 2,753
5 Baldy North 2023 USFS 2,093
6 Range 45 Northeast 2023 USFS 1,823
7 Indian Creek 2023 USFS 1,771
8 County Line 2023 USFS 1,554
9 Carson Six 2024 USFS 1,346
10 Parces Rd 2024 USFS 1,158

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.