In 2025, fire departments serving Knoxville responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
118 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 31 | +29.2% | |
| 2023* | 12 | — | |
| 2024 | 32 | — | |
| 2025 | 19 | -40.6% |
* Well below Knoxville'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 3 building fires Knoxville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 80 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 | 15 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 15.0% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 13.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 8.8% |
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 Knoxville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 52.5% | |
| 2 | Match | 20 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Knoxville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Power line down | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Knoxville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 41,036 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 5,091 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 4,000 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,983 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,285 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,014 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,008 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,653 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,470 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,435 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,401 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,340 | 45.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,063 | 49.1 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 Arkansas cities with population within ±25% of Knoxville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.