In 2025, fire departments serving Greenbrier responded to 124 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $140K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
793 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $20.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 145 | — | |
| 2022 | 172 | +18.6% | |
| 2023 | 213 | +23.8% | |
| 2024 | 139 | -34.7% | |
| 2025 | 124 | -10.8% |
For the 20 building fires Greenbrier departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 129 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 | 22 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 16 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 15 | 11.6% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 9.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Other | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 31 | 24.0% |
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 Greenbrier mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 46 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Match | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 15.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Greenbrier departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $139,680 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $32,692 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $23,315 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,740 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Greenbrier sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,637 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 230 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 225 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 125 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 118 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 8.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 94 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 93 | 38.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 93 | 28.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 85 | 46.8 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 Greenbrier. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Greenbrier.
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.