In 2025, fire departments serving Memphis responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
134 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $200K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | — | |
| 2023 | 41 | +5.1% | |
| 2024 | 25 | -39.0% | |
| 2025 | 18 | -28.0% |
* Well below Memphis's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 4 building fires Memphis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 20 | 46.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 9.3% |
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 Memphis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 28 | 65.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Memphis sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,520 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 34.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 144 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 40.2 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47143 | 134 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Memphis. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.