In 2025, fire departments serving Sarasota County responded to 2,434 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Top five categories make up about 42% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips.
14,936 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,412 | |
| 2022 | 3,477 | |
| 2023 | 2,803 | |
| 2024 | 3,810 | |
| 2025 | 2,434 |
For the 140 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Sarasota County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 38% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | NORTH COUNTY | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major |
| 2 | $413,400 | Nokomis | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $365,000 | NOKOMIS | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $300,000 | NORTH COUNTY | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $250,000 | North Port | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $250,000 | VENICE | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major |
| 7 | $245,000 | NORTH COUNTY | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $220,000 | Sarasota | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 9 | $200,000 | North Venice | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 10 | $200,000 | Sarasota | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 12115.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| North Port | 76,975 | View › |
| Sarasota | 55,508 | View › |
| Venice | 25,710 | View › |
| Englewood | 19,378 | View › |
| South Venice | 17,469 | View › |
| Fruitville | 15,333 | View › |
| Palmer Ranch | 15,278 | View › |
| Sarasota Springs | 12,500 | View › |
| Laurel | 11,858 | View › |
| Bee Ridge | 10,069 | View › |
| Osprey | 6,195 | View › |
| Southgate | 6,183 | View › |
7 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DOF Prarie Fire | 2011 | NPS | 68,028 |
| 2 | CP3 RX | 2021 | NPS | 66,918 |
| 3 | Buzzard | 2018 | NPS | 62,454 |
| 4 | Tarpon (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 52,542 |
| 5 | CP-2 Exotics (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 49,703 |
| 6 | EVER CP3 Exotics Rx | 2024 | NPS | 47,986 |
| 7 | ROG-South (BIL) | 2023 | NPS | 47,619 |
| 8 | ROG-South/Southern Glades | 2020 | NPS | 43,751 |
| 9 | BICY Kirby Rx FY24 | 2024 | NPS | 39,765 |
| 10 | Mustang Corner | 2008 | NPS | 39,423 |
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.