In 2025, fire departments serving Shelbyville responded to 201 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $90K 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 50% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,155 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $8.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 192 | — | |
| 2022 | 253 | +31.8% | |
| 2023 | 262 | +3.6% | |
| 2024 | 247 | -5.7% | |
| 2025 | 201 | -18.6% |
For the 31 building fires Shelbyville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 611 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 | 186 | 30.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 94 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 65 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 59 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 34 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Other | 23 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 11 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 10 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 108 | 17.7% |
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 Shelbyville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 345 | 56.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 30 | 4.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 28 | 4.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 27 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 26 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 25 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 14 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 66 | 10.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shelbyville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 48% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $85,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shelbyville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,794 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,560 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 833 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 748 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 735 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 510 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 340 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 332 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 296 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 296 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 291 | 42.5 mi |
Top 10 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 Shelbyville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Shelbyville.
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.