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2025 County Report

Fires in Washington County, AL

In 2025, fire departments serving Washington County responded to 95 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

4,060 residents FIPS 01129 47 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
95
442 across 5 years
Building fires
25
57 wildland
Property loss
$400K
$230K structure · $170K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 88% of all calls.

95
Total Incidents
Building fires 25 26.3%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 23 24.2%
Natural vegetation fire, other 20 21.1%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 14 14.7%
Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other 2 2.1%
All other categories 11 11.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Washington County?

Mar peaks. May dips.

Jan 14
Feb 17
Mar 32
Apr 5
May 0
Jun 2
Jul 7
Aug 6
Sep 5
Oct 2
Nov 4
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Washington County

442 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 28
2022 34
2023 86
2024 199
2025 95
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 25 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
27%
4
Cause undetermined
20%
3
Intentional / arson
40%
6
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
7%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
1
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $230K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Washington County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $200,000 Leroy Building fires Significant
2 $20,000 Deerpark Building fires Significant
3 $10,000 DEER PARK Fire, other Significant
06 How Washington County compares

Washington County vs AL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

23.4
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Washington County
23.4
AL avg
9.37
US avg
7.15
6.16
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Washington County
6.16
AL avg
1.28
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Washington County
0
AL avg
11.3
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Washington County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 01129.

CityPopulation 
Leroy 1,061 View ›
Chatom 702 View ›
Millry 563 View ›
St. Stephens 471 View ›
McIntosh 315 View ›
Vinegar Bend 241 View ›
Fairford 187 View ›
Hobson 132 View ›
Fruitdale 121 View ›
Deer Park 83 View ›
Tibbie 70 View ›
Calvert 70 View ›
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in AL

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 426 B 2019 USFS 2,671
2 Lake Chinnabee 2016 USFS 2,228
3 742 2019 USFS 1,787
4 Rd07-09 2006 NPS 1,467
5 Big Candle 2019 USFS 1,272
6 Half Way 2016 USFS 1,066
7 LRP NORTHEAST SOUTH RX 2023 NPS 1,026
8 Welcome Home 1 2016 USFS 1,008
9 Road 09-08 WF 2006 NPS 978
10 Caney Head 2016 USFS 932

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.