In 2025, fire departments serving Brighton responded to 114 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 72% of all calls.
Feb peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
633 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 97 | — | |
| 2022 | 167 | +72.2% | |
| 2023 | 161 | -3.6% | |
| 2024 | 94 | -41.6% | |
| 2025 | 114 | +21.3% |
For the 26 building fires Brighton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 221 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 | 43 | 19.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 40 | 18.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 25 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 41 | 18.6% |
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 Brighton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 87 | 39.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 27 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 15.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brighton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $227,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brighton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,703 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 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 529 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 44.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 375 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 316 | 27.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 269 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 241 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 225 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 206 | 48.4 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 Brighton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Brighton.
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.