In 2025, fire departments serving Kingston responded to 112 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
478 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $40K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 82 | — | |
| 2022 | 64 | -22.0% | |
| 2023 | 126 | +96.9% | |
| 2024 | 94 | -25.4% | |
| 2025 | 112 | +19.1% |
For the 26 building fires Kingston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 141 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 | 28 | 19.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 14.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 17 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 11 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 18.4% |
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 Kingston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 76 | 53.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 17 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 10 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 9.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kingston departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kingston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 74,738 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 | 10,586 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 8,134 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,788 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,646 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,450 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,398 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,944 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,925 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,214 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,050 | 31.3 mi |
Top 6 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 Kingston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kingston.
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.