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2025 County Report

Fires in Suwannee County, FL

In 2025, fire departments serving Suwannee County responded to 146 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

7,684 residents FIPS 12121 23 cities · 12 fire depts
Total incidents
146
1,797 across 5 years
Building fires
11
18 wildland
Property loss
$387K
$326K structure · $61K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 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.

146
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 32 21.9%
Power line down 19 13.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 13 8.9%
Building fires 11 7.5%
Outside rubbish fire, other 9 6.2%
All other categories 62 42.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Suwannee County?

Nov peaks. May dips.

Jan 16
Feb 8
Mar 16
Apr 13
May 3
Jun 15
Jul 12
Aug 10
Sep 7
Oct 14
Nov 26
Dec 6
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Suwannee County

1,797 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 464
2022 236
2023 379
2024 572
2025 146
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 11 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
17
Cause undetermined
15%
5
Intentional / arson
9%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
3
Under investigation
18%
6
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $320K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Live Oak Building fires Major
2 $25,000 Live Oak Building fires Significant
3 $10,000 Live Oak Passenger vehicle fire Significant
4 $10,000 Live Oak Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
5 $7,000 Live Oak Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $5,000 Branford Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $5,000 Live Oak Outside storage fire Significant
8 $2,500 Live Oak Building fires Significant
9 $2,500 Live Oak Building fires Significant
10 $2,500 Live Oak Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Suwannee County compares

Suwannee County vs FL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

19
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Suwannee County
19
FL avg
5.32
US avg
7.15
1.43
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Suwannee County
1.43
FL avg
0.42
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Suwannee County
0
FL avg
4.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Suwannee County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 12121.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Suwannee County

12 departments report from this county.

LIVE OAK FIRE DEPT
Live Oak
FDID 31022 140 incidents 13 paid
BRANFORD VOL FD
Branford
FDID 31012 5 incidents 18 vol
DOWLING PARK VFD
—
FDID 31011 0 incidents
FALMOUTH VFD
Live Oak
FDID 31021 0 incidents
LAURAVILLE VFD
Live Oak
FDID 31031 0 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in FL

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
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

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.