In 2025, fire departments serving Loudon responded to 144 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
889 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 136 | — | |
| 2022 | 223 | +64.0% | |
| 2023 | 202 | -9.4% | |
| 2024 | 184 | -8.9% | |
| 2025 | 144 | -21.7% |
For the 22 building fires Loudon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 296 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 | 41 | 13.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 40 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 35 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 30 | 10.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 24 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 81 | 27.4% |
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 Loudon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 123 | 41.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 31 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 25 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Match | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 36 | 12.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Loudon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,750 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Loudon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 67,023 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 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 8,134 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,788 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,450 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,944 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,925 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,050 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,018 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,610 | 27.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Loudon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Loudon.
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.