In 2025, fire departments serving Sewanee responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
93 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $352K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | — | |
| 2023 | 28 | +47.4% | |
| 2024 | 20 | -28.6% | |
| 2025 | 23 | +15.0% |
* Well below Sewanee'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 0 building fires Sewanee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Art gallery, exhibit hall, library | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 16.7% |
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 Sewanee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Incendiary device | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sewanee departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sewanee sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 34,232 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,836 | 41.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,480 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,083 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,080 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,035 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,018 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,747 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,560 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,167 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,120 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,100 | 29.5 mi |
Top 2 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 Sewanee. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sewanee.
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.