In 2025, fire departments serving Lyles responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
104 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 19 | — | |
| 2022 | 25 | +31.6% | |
| 2023 | 15 | -40.0% | |
| 2024 | 16 | +6.7% | |
| 2025 | 29 | +81.2% |
For the 5 building fires Lyles departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 67 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 | 30 | 44.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 14.9% |
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 Lyles mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 62.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lyles departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $193,655 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lyles sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,923 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Natural | 585 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 516 | 39.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 331 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 330 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 312 | 16.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 264 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 240 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 240 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 235 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 225 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 218 | 32.3 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 Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Lyles. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lyles.
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.