In 2025, fire departments serving Dyersburg responded to 374 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,717 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 318 | — | |
| 2022 | 319 | +0.3% | |
| 2023 | 346 | +8.5% | |
| 2024 | 360 | +4.0% | |
| 2025 | 374 | +3.9% |
For the 34 building fires Dyersburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 481 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 | 91 | 18.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 82 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 72 | 15.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 39 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 30 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 22 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 18 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 10 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 99 | 20.6% |
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 Dyersburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 278 | 57.8% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 36 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 27 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 16 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 15 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Match | 11 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 8 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 47 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dyersburg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 56% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $130,700 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $55,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $55,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $55,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dyersburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,117 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 6.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 316 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 175 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 168 | 9.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 143 | 42.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 139 | 23.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 135 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 131 | 47.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 25.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 104 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 101 | 41.5 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 Dyersburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Dyersburg.
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.