In 2025, fire departments serving Unicoi responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
82 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $401K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | — | |
| 2023 | 13 | -53.6% | |
| 2024 | 11 | -15.4% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +136.4% |
* Well below Unicoi'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 2 building fires Unicoi departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | 9 | 40.9% | |
| 2 | Other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Multiple areas | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 4.5% |
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 Unicoi mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 63.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Unicoi departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Unicoi sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 65,517 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,120 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,964 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,500 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,015 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,163 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,943 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2,738 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,579 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,404 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,185 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 2,115 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,050 | 9.1 mi |
Top 4 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 Unicoi. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Unicoi.
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.