In 2025, fire departments serving White House responded to 127 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
595 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 118 | — | |
| 2022 | 123 | +4.2% | |
| 2023 | 129 | +4.9% | |
| 2024 | 98 | -24.0% | |
| 2025 | 127 | +29.6% |
For the 16 building fires White House departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 185 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 34 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 30 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 25 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 13 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 21.6% |
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 White House mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 74 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 22 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 12 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 10 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 13.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by White House departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. White House sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,825 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 | 328 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 230 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 225 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 118 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 112 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 101 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 3.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 94 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 93 | 43.6 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 White House. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in White House.
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.