In 2025, fire departments serving Gibson responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
57 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $152K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | — | |
| 2023 | 12 | -29.4% | |
| 2024 | 11 | -8.3% | |
| 2025 | 11 | +0.0% |
* Well below Gibson's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 1 building fires Gibson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | 14 | 29.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 20.8% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Entrance way, lobby | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 10.4% |
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 Gibson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 56.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gibson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,694 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 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 316 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 235 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 182 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 175 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 168 | 23.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 147 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 143 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 30.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 139 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 132 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 131 | 14.9 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 Gibson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gibson.
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.