In 2025, fire departments serving Atoka responded to 83 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 70% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
400 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 77 | — | |
| 2022 | 111 | +44.2% | |
| 2023 | 55 | -50.5% | |
| 2024 | 74 | +34.5% | |
| 2025 | 83 | +12.2% |
For the 24 building fires Atoka departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 187 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 | 51 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 30 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 18.2% |
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 Atoka mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 80 | 42.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 17 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 12.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Atoka departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 86% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $26,584 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Atoka sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,003 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,007 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 529 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 375 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 338 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 316 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 269 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 241 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 225 | 40.5 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 Atoka. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Atoka.
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.