In 2025, fire departments serving Gray responded to 125 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
563 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 94 | — | |
| 2022 | 128 | +36.2% | |
| 2023 | 95 | -25.8% | |
| 2024 | 121 | +27.4% | |
| 2025 | 125 | +3.3% |
For the 13 building fires Gray departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 209 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 | 77 | 36.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 24 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 19.1% |
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 Gray mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 124 | 59.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 5.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gray departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $18,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gray sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 57,066 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 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,964 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,300 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,943 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2,738 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,579 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,200 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,185 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 2,115 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,050 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Other causes | 2,005 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 2,000 | 47.7 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 Gray. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gray.
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.