In 2025, fire departments serving Madisonville responded to 209 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,107 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 135 | — | |
| 2022 | 199 | +47.4% | |
| 2023 | 255 | +28.1% | |
| 2024 | 309 | +21.2% | |
| 2025 | 209 | -32.4% |
For the 49 building fires Madisonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 308 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 | 56 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 39 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 38 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 37 | 12.0% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 21 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Other | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 73 | 23.7% |
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 Madisonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 160 | 51.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 21 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 16 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 15 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 12 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 33 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Madisonville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Madisonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 83,297 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 27,870 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,641 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,788 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,450 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,231 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,944 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,018 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,610 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,600 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,500 | 41.8 mi |
Top 9 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 Madisonville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Madisonville.
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.