In 2025, fire departments serving Smithville responded to 60 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 60% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
404 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.6M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79 | — | |
| 2022 | 94 | +19.0% | |
| 2023 | 101 | +7.4% | |
| 2024 | 70 | -30.7% | |
| 2025 | 60 | -14.3% |
For the 9 building fires Smithville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 305 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 | 126 | 41.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 42 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 27 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 25 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 16 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 31 | 10.2% |
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 Smithville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 219 | 71.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 4 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Smithville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $182,800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $182,800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $110,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Smithville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
15 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 6 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 29,768 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,646 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,480 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,214 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,080 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,035 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,018 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,747 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,560 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,120 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,050 | 31.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 880 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 800 | 32.6 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 Smithville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Smithville.
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.