In 2025, fire departments across Mississippi responded to 27,909 fire and hazmat incidents — including the Toms Camp wildfire that burned 5,301 acres in 2023.
Mississippi ranks #29 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Oct peaks across the window; Dec dips.
122,571 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18,151 | |
| 2022 | 11,096 | |
| 2023 | 33,272 | |
| 2024 | 32,143 | |
| 2025 | 27,909 |
For the 4,522 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.
| # | Cause | Incidents | FOD vs NFIRS | Acres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arson / incendiarism | 37,738 | 34,647 / 3,091 | 614,852 | |
| 2 | Undetermined / missing | 30,503 | 19,977 / 10,526 | 270,466 | |
| 3 | Debris & open burning | 24,243 | 24,243 / 0 | 296,931 | |
| 4 | Equipment & vehicle use | 4,955 | 1,435 / 3,520 | 20,891 | |
| 5 | Recreation & ceremony | 1,661 | 1,661 / 0 | 17,075 | |
| 6 | Natural (lightning) | 1,478 | 598 / 880 | 12,642 | |
| 7 | Smoking | 1,086 | 1,086 / 0 | 12,971 | |
| 8 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 415 | 415 / 0 | 4,210 | |
| 9 | Railroad operations | 368 | 368 / 0 | 4,564 | |
| 10 | Other causes | 360 | 152 / 208 | 1,187 | |
| 11 | Power generation / utility | 69 | 69 / 0 | 2,544 | |
| 12 | Fireworks | 38 | 38 / 0 | 907 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outdoor fires | 44,045 | $4.8M | 5 | |
| 2 | Wildland fires | 33,158 | $4.3M | 4 | |
| 3 | Building fires | 32,067 | $649.4M | 131 | |
| 4 | Vehicle fires | 13,700 | $143.5M | 27 | |
| 5 | Gas leaks | 12,699 | $47K | 0 | |
| 6 | Electrical / wiring | 10,990 | $1.8M | 0 | |
| 7 | Rubbish / refuse | 9,384 | $857K | 1 | |
| 8 | Cooking-related | 2,979 | $835K | 0 | |
| 9 | Arson | 13 | $0 | 0 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 16% of Mississippi's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $6,000,000 | City of Laurel | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $3,000,000 | Leakesville | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $2,500,000 | Hattiesburg | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $2,000,000 | Kiln | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major |
| 5 | $2,000,000 | Long Beach | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $2,000,000 | Tupelo | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $2,000,000 | Canton | Aircraft fire | Major |
| 8 | $1,600,000 | Lumberton | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $1,500,000 | Southaven | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Major |
| 10 | $1,500,000 | Fulton | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare Mississippi apples-to-apples to the national average.
12 largest reporting cities by population.
Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.
| # | County | Incidents | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hinds County | 2,560 | 200,243 |
| 2 | Harrison County | 1,840 | 161,631 |
| 3 | DeSoto County | 1,154 | 151,861 |
| 4 | Jones County | 1,069 | 24,953 |
| 5 | Jackson County | 908 | 114,188 |
| 6 | Rankin County | 887 | 79,997 |
| 7 | Lauderdale County | 867 | 41,850 |
| 8 | Lee County | 851 | 55,518 |
| 9 | Forrest County | 740 | 63,244 |
| 10 | Madison County | 684 | 69,409 |
Top 8 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee County | 15.33 | 851 | 55,518 | |
| 2 | Hinds County | 12.78 | 2,560 | 200,243 | |
| 3 | Forrest County | 11.70 | 740 | 63,244 | |
| 4 | Harrison County | 11.38 | 1,840 | 161,631 | |
| 5 | Rankin County | 11.09 | 887 | 79,997 | |
| 6 | Madison County | 9.85 | 684 | 69,409 | |
| 7 | Jackson County | 7.95 | 908 | 114,188 | |
| 8 | DeSoto County | 7.60 | 1,154 | 151,861 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
525 perimeters and 76,357 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 85 | 20,802 | |
| 2020s | 440 | 55,555 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.
| Decade | Total fires | Share by cause |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 33,402 | |
| 2000s | 34,226 | |
| 2010s | 16,360 | |
| 2020s | 718 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 84,706 ignitions total.
451 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 26 | |
| 10-19 | 17 | |
| 20-29 | 85 | |
| 30-39 | 77 | |
| 40-49 | 63 | |
| 50-59 | 59 | |
| 60-69 | 58 | |
| 70-79 | 36 | |
| 80+ | 30 |
State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.