In 2025, fire departments serving Bethel Springs responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K 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 93% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
117 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $334K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022* | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | 32 | — | |
| 2024 | 33 | +3.1% | |
| 2025 | 27 | -18.2% |
* Well below Bethel Springs's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 6 building fires Bethel Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | 26 | 48.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Assembly or sales area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 5.6% |
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 Bethel Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 29 | 53.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Match | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 9.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bethel Springs departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bethel Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,135 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 | 1,344 | 36.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,007 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 900 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 702 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 537 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 529 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 21.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 475 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 459 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 390 | 31.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 382 | 33.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 37.5 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 Bethel Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bethel Springs.
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.