In 2025, fire departments serving Trenton responded to 62 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
484 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $571K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 91 | — | |
| 2022 | 132 | +45.1% | |
| 2023 | 121 | -8.3% | |
| 2024 | 78 | -35.5% | |
| 2025 | 62 | -20.5% |
For the 8 building fires Trenton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 258 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 | 52 | 20.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 35 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 33 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 21 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 49 | 19.0% |
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 Trenton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 102 | 39.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 25 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 18 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Match | 16 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 39 | 15.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Trenton departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Trenton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,035 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 500 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 316 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 235 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 175 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 168 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 49.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 147 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 143 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 30.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 139 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 132 | 26.9 mi |
Top 7 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 Trenton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Trenton.
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.