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2025 County Report

Fires in Simpson County, MS

In 2025, fire departments serving Simpson County responded to 283 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $63K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

7,327 residents FIPS 28127 21 cities · 2 fire depts
Total incidents
283
1,036 across 5 years
Building fires
40
131 wildland
Property loss
$266K
$183K structure · $83K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.

283
Total Incidents
Grass fire 82 29.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 45 15.9%
Building fires 40 14.1%
Passenger vehicle fire 25 8.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 15 5.3%
All other categories 76 26.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Simpson County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 33
Feb 35
Mar 58
Apr 20
May 13
Jun 15
Jul 7
Aug 35
Sep 34
Oct 32
Nov 0
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Simpson County

1,036 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 128
2022 65
2023 319
2024 241
2025 283
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 40 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
81%
78
Cause undetermined
2%
2
Intentional / arson
5%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
6
Under investigation
4%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $180K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Simpson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $62,680 Mendenhall Building fires Significant
2 $50,000 Braxton Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
3 $25,000 Magee Building fires Significant
4 $25,000 Magee Building fires Significant
5 $5,000 Harrisville Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $5,000 Harrisville Building fires Significant
7 $2,500 Pinola Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
8 $2,000 Braxton Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $1,500 Pinola Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
10 $1,300 Braxton Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
06 How Simpson County compares

Simpson County vs MS vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

38.62
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Simpson County
38.62
MS avg
16.75
US avg
7.15
5.46
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Simpson County
5.46
MS avg
2.71
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Simpson County
0
MS avg
22.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Simpson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 28127.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Simpson County

2 departments report from this county.

Magee Volunteer Fire Dept
Magee
FDID 64003 137 incidents 1 paid 36 vol
Old Pearl VFD
Florence
FDID 64005 15 incidents 31 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.