In 2025, fire departments serving New Tazewell responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $45K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. New Tazewell's departments reported 45 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 79 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
393 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022 | 130 | +94.0% | |
| 2023 | 87 | -33.1% | |
| 2024 | 64 | -26.4% | |
| 2025* | 45 | — |
* Well below New Tazewell'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 9 building fires New Tazewell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 119 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 | 39 | 32.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 16.8% |
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 New Tazewell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 70 | 58.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 13.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Incendiary device | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 2.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Tazewell departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $45,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Tazewell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 84,875 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,586 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 8,134 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,400 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,700 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,040 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,860 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,675 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,539 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,300 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,944 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,850 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,500 | 40.0 mi |
Top 3 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 New Tazewell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in New Tazewell.
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.