In 2025, fire departments serving Arlington responded to 126 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
621 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 100 | — | |
| 2022 | 131 | +31.0% | |
| 2023 | 137 | +4.6% | |
| 2024 | 127 | -7.3% | |
| 2025 | 126 | -0.8% |
For the 10 building fires Arlington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 288 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 60 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 49 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 44 | 15.3% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 21 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 15 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 54 | 18.8% |
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 Arlington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 163 | 56.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 36 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Arlington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $339,200 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $286,200 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $86,900 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $47,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Arlington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,507 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 47.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,130 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,092 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,007 | 30.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 891 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 40.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 770 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 636 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 537 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 529 | 34.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 40.8 mi |
Top 7 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 Arlington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Arlington.
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.