In 2025, fire departments serving Sweetwater responded to 149 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 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
964 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 160 | — | |
| 2022 | 207 | +29.4% | |
| 2023 | 241 | +16.4% | |
| 2024 | 207 | -14.1% | |
| 2025 | 149 | -28.0% |
For the 33 building fires Sweetwater departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 389 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 | Outside area, other | 70 | 18.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 63 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 43 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 35 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 22 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 13 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 100 | 25.7% |
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 Sweetwater mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 178 | 45.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 24 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 20 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 16 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 15 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 11 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 64 | 16.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sweetwater departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $28,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sweetwater sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 81,599 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 27,870 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 8,134 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,788 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,450 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,944 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,050 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,018 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,610 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,600 | 18.9 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 Sweetwater. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sweetwater.
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.