In 2025, fire departments serving East Ridge responded to 192 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.5M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,056 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $7.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 203 | — | |
| 2022 | 228 | +12.3% | |
| 2023 | 236 | +3.5% | |
| 2024 | 197 | -16.5% | |
| 2025 | 192 | -2.5% |
For the 11 building fires East Ridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 189 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 42 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 35 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 10 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 22.8% |
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 East Ridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 120 | 63.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 9 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated heat from another fire | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Candle | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 3.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by East Ridge departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $14,999 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. East Ridge sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 64,320 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 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,836 | 24.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,480 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,083 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,080 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,035 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,018 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,747 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,600 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,560 | 31.4 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 East Ridge. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in East Ridge.
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.