In 2025, fire departments serving Decatur responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Decatur's departments reported 20 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 68 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
340 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 90 | — | |
| 2022 | 92 | +2.2% | |
| 2023 | 95 | +3.3% | |
| 2024 | 43 | -54.7% | |
| 2025* | 20 | — |
* Well below Decatur'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 7 building fires Decatur departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 95 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 | 39 | 41.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 9 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 12.6% |
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 Decatur mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 62 | 65.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Match | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Decatur departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,900 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Decatur sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 70,321 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 27,870 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,450 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,944 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,480 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,080 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,035 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,018 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,747 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,610 | 39.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Decatur. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Decatur.
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.