In 2025, fire departments serving Estill Springs responded to 60 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $380K 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 72% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
406 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60 | — | |
| 2022 | 83 | +38.3% | |
| 2023 | 101 | +21.7% | |
| 2024 | 102 | +1.0% | |
| 2025 | 60 | -41.2% |
For the 26 building fires Estill Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 182 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 | 36 | 19.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 29 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 15 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 41 | 22.5% |
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 Estill Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 53 | 29.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 46 | 25.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 14 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 9.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Estill Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $380,400 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $380,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $45,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $23,928 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Estill Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 28,826 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,480 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,083 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,080 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,035 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,747 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,560 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,167 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,100 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,075 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,050 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,010 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 950 | 33.3 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 Estill Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Estill Springs.
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.