In 2025, fire departments serving Baxter responded to 39 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
291 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51 | — | |
| 2022 | 80 | +56.9% | |
| 2023 | 66 | -17.5% | |
| 2024 | 55 | -16.7% | |
| 2025 | 39 | -29.1% |
For the 6 building fires Baxter departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 119 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 | 29 | 24.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 10 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 20.2% |
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 Baxter mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 64 | 53.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 13.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Baxter departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Baxter sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 31,953 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,646 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,925 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,480 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,214 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,080 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,018 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,120 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,050 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 960 | 37.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 880 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 800 | 30.0 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 Baxter. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Baxter.
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.