In 2025, fire departments serving Martin responded to 111 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $298K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
492 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 95 | — | |
| 2022 | 100 | +5.3% | |
| 2023 | 104 | +4.0% | |
| 2024 | 82 | -21.2% | |
| 2025 | 111 | +35.4% |
For the 22 building fires Martin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 187 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 | 45 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 26 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 15 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 47 | 25.1% |
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 Martin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 89 | 47.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 18 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 9 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 7.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Martin departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $298,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $225,400 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $225,400 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $81,700 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Martin sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,768 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 500 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Smoking | 311 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 227 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 175 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 168 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 143 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 25.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 132 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 131 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 43.8 mi |
Top 7 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 Martin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Martin.
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.