In 2025, fire departments serving Murfreesboro responded to 980 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M 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 46% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
5,797 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $41.0M cumulative property loss. 9 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,308 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,535 | +17.4% | |
| 2023 | 929 | -39.5% | |
| 2024 | 1,045 | +12.5% | |
| 2025 | 980 | -6.2% |
For the 80 building fires Murfreesboro departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,851 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 | 394 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 307 | 16.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 210 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 147 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 100 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 88 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 63 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 44 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 39 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Other | 35 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 424 | 22.9% |
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 Murfreesboro mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 908 | 49.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 218 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 99 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 94 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 62 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 54 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 51 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 49 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 40 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 38 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 238 | 12.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Murfreesboro departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 58% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Outside equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $398,900 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $277,991 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $216,300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Murfreesboro sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
59 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 3 | |
| 10-19 | 4 | |
| 20-29 | 8 | |
| 30-39 | 16 | |
| 40-49 | 5 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 9 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,115 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 748 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 5.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 291 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 286 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 260 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 243 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 225 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 224 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 214 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 210 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 191 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 48.3 mi |
Top 10 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 Murfreesboro. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Murfreesboro.
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.