In 2025, fire departments serving Powell responded to 103 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $145K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
305 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 28 | — | |
| 2022* | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 83 | — | |
| 2024 | 80 | -3.6% | |
| 2025 | 103 | +28.7% |
* Well below Powell'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 6 building fires Powell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 102 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 | 18 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 11 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 20.6% |
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 Powell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 61 | 59.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 8.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Powell departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $145,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $14,454 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $4,632 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,600 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $700 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Powell sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 101,004 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 17,140 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,586 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 8,134 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,788 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,580 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,700 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,040 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,675 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,450 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,944 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,925 | 48.7 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 | 37849 | 305 |
Six Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Powell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Powell.
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.