In 2025, fire departments serving Ashland City responded to 143 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $453K 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 41% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
783 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $5.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 126 | — | |
| 2022 | 177 | +40.5% | |
| 2023 | 162 | -8.5% | |
| 2024 | 175 | +8.0% | |
| 2025 | 143 | -18.3% |
For the 21 building fires Ashland City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 256 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 | 75 | 29.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 24 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 19 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 16 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Other | 14 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 56 | 21.9% |
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 Ashland City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 127 | 49.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 13 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 10.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ashland City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $453,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $59,520 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ashland City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,128 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 331 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 312 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 230 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 225 | 3.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 173 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 160 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 158 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 148 | 48.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Ashland City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ashland City.
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.