In 2025, fire departments serving Nashville responded to 62 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
275 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $621K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | — | |
| 2022 | 54 | +10.2% | |
| 2023 | 66 | +22.2% | |
| 2024 | 44 | -33.3% | |
| 2025 | 62 | +40.9% |
For the 13 building fires Nashville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 15.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 17.9% |
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 Nashville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 64.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Nashville departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Nashville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,868 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 34.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 142 | 41.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 19.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 71 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 61 | 47.1 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Nashville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Nashville.
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.