In 2025, fire departments serving Elizabethton responded to 337 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 47% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,407 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 271 | — | |
| 2022 | 292 | +7.7% | |
| 2023 | 246 | -15.8% | |
| 2024 | 261 | +6.1% | |
| 2025 | 337 | +29.1% |
For the 52 building fires Elizabethton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 324 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 | 71 | 21.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 42 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 30 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 23 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 16 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 11 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Other | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 87 | 26.9% |
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 Elizabethton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 177 | 54.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 25 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 41 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elizabethton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $9,500 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elizabethton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 63,058 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,120 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,964 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,500 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,015 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,163 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,943 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2,738 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,579 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,404 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 2,115 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,050 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Other causes | 2,005 | 36.5 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 Elizabethton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elizabethton.
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.