In 2025, fire departments serving Rossville responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
164 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $394K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 31 | +3.3% | |
| 2023 | 36 | +16.1% | |
| 2024 | 38 | +5.6% | |
| 2025 | 29 | -23.7% |
For the 8 building fires Rossville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | 26 | 48.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 5.6% |
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 Rossville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 31.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Incendiary device | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 16.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rossville departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $6,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $250 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rossville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,584 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,826 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 33.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,130 | 23.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,092 | 32.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,007 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,005 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 37.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 891 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 770 | 21.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 750 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 720 | 48.6 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 Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Rossville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rossville.
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.