In 2025, fire departments serving Harrison responded to 64 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
198 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 11 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023 | 53 | — | |
| 2024 | 66 | +24.5% | |
| 2025 | 64 | -3.0% |
* Well below Harrison'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 8 building fires Harrison departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 103 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 | Undetermined | 24 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 19 | 18.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 15.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 13.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 10.7% |
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 Harrison mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 46 | 44.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Match | 8 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 9.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Harrison departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $34,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Harrison sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 62,806 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 27,870 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,836 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,480 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,083 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,080 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,035 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,018 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,747 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,600 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,560 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,281 | 23.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Harrison. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Harrison.
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.