In 2025, fire departments serving Wartburg responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
205 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $101K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | — | |
| 2022 | 34 | -27.7% | |
| 2023 | 36 | +5.9% | |
| 2024 | 43 | +19.4% | |
| 2025 | 45 | +4.7% |
For the 8 building fires Wartburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 137 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 | 79 | 57.7% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 5.8% |
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 Wartburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 96 | 70.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 1.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wartburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 76,392 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,586 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 8,134 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,700 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,646 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,040 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,450 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,398 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,944 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,925 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 9.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,214 | 36.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Wartburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wartburg.
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.