In 2025, fire departments serving Covington responded to 151 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $423K 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 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
795 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 159 | — | |
| 2022 | 154 | -3.1% | |
| 2023 | 181 | +17.5% | |
| 2024 | 150 | -17.1% | |
| 2025 | 151 | +0.7% |
For the 36 building fires Covington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 411 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 | Outside area, other | 63 | 15.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 56 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 51 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 48 | 11.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 34 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 16 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Other | 11 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 11 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 100 | 24.3% |
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 Covington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 167 | 40.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 39 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 28 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 24 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 16 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 14 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 11 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 69 | 16.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Covington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 85% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $422,900 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $70,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Covington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,312 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 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 529 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 375 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 316 | 20.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 269 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 225 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 206 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 41.9 mi |
Top 6 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 Covington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Covington.
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.