In 2025, fire departments serving Newbern responded to 108 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
402 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | +23.3% | |
| 2023 | 82 | +10.8% | |
| 2024 | 78 | -4.9% | |
| 2025 | 108 | +38.5% |
For the 15 building fires Newbern departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 261 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 44 | 16.9% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 42 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 39 | 14.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 37 | 14.2% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 18 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 17.6% |
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 Newbern mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 121 | 46.4% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 21 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 36 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Newbern departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $74,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Newbern sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,642 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 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 8.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 316 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 175 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 168 | 8.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 143 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 45.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 139 | 30.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 132 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 131 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 31.9 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 Newbern. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Newbern.
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.