In 2025, fire departments serving Big Sandy responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $55K 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 63% of all calls.
Aug peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
168 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | +60.0% | |
| 2023 | 33 | -17.5% | |
| 2024 | 27 | -18.2% | |
| 2025 | 43 | +59.3% |
For the 12 building fires Big Sandy departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 92 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 | 31 | 33.7% | |
| 2 | Wall surface: exterior | 14 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Exterior, exposed surface | 10 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 18.5% |
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 Big Sandy mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 35 | 38.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 28 | 30.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Big Sandy departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $55,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $29,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $26,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $26,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $22,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $8,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Big Sandy sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,966 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 1,024 | 25.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 331 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 330 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Smoking | 311 | 19.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 271 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 240 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 240 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 234 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 200 | 9.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 38221 | 168 |
Six Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Big Sandy. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Big Sandy.
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.