In 2025, fire departments serving Fayetteville responded to 57 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
422 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 76 | — | |
| 2022 | 118 | +55.3% | |
| 2023 | 90 | -23.7% | |
| 2024 | 81 | -10.0% | |
| 2025 | 57 | -29.6% |
For the 6 building fires Fayetteville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 292 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 | Outside area, other | 71 | 24.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 65 | 22.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 30 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 14.7% |
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 Fayetteville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 180 | 61.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 21 | 7.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 31 | 10.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fayetteville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 75% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $90,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $60,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $55,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $18,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fayetteville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,616 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,010 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 833 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 748 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 735 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 510 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 340 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 332 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 330 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 296 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 262 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 260 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 250 | 17.2 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 Fayetteville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fayetteville.
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.