In 2025, fire departments serving Knoxville responded to 36 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
234 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $921K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 40 | — | |
| 2022 | 45 | +12.5% | |
| 2023 | 68 | +51.1% | |
| 2024 | 45 | -33.8% | |
| 2025 | 36 | -20.0% |
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 72 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 | 38 | 52.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 13.9% | |
| 4 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 5.6% |
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 | 56 | 77.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Knoxville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $14,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,300 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $400 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Knoxville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,669 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 42.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 180 | 47.2 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Knoxville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Knoxville.
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.