In 2025, fire departments serving Ardmore responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $588K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 93% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
62 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | +12.5% | |
| 2023 | 18 | +100.0% | |
| 2024 | 12 | -33.3% | |
| 2025 | 15 | +25.0% |
For the 5 building fires Ardmore departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 44 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 22.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Office | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 15.9% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Ardmore mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 68.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Lightning | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ardmore departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $588,300 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ardmore sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,389 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,163 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 510 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 385 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 330 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 327 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 250 | 3.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 41.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 235 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 235 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 210 | 31.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 39.3 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Ardmore. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ardmore.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.