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2025 County Report

Fires in Bedford County, TN

In 2025, fire departments serving Bedford County responded to 310 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss.

27,017 residents FIPS 47003 39 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
310
1,889 across 5 years
Building fires
51
45 wildland
Property loss
$2.1M
$1.3M structure · $792K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.

310
Total Incidents
Building fires 51 16.5%
Authorized controlled burning 31 10.0%
Passenger vehicle fire 26 8.4%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 23 7.4%
Grass fire 19 6.1%
All other categories 160 51.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Bedford County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 27
Feb 34
Mar 56
Apr 19
May 31
Jun 17
Jul 23
Aug 31
Sep 21
Oct 18
Nov 28
Dec 5
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Bedford County

1,889 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 341
2022 439
2023 413
2024 386
2025 310
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 51 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
44%
59
Cause undetermined
22%
30
Intentional / arson
13%
18
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
10
Under investigation
5%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $645K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Bedford County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 50% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $100,000 NORMANDY Building fires Significant
2 $90,000 Shelbyville Building fires Significant
3 $85,000 SHELBYVILLE Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
4 $80,000 SHELBYVILLE Building fires Significant
5 $70,000 NORMANDY Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
6 $50,000 Shelbyville Building fires Significant
7 $50,000 SHELBYVILLE Building fires Significant
8 $40,000 SHELBYVILLE Building fires Significant
9 $40,000 SHELBYVILLE Building fires Significant
10 $40,000 SHELBYVILLE Building fires Significant
06 How Bedford County compares

Bedford County vs TN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.47
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Bedford County
11.47
TN avg
11.07
US avg
7.15
1.89
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Bedford County
1.89
TN avg
1.37
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Bedford County
0
TN avg
15
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Bedford County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 47003.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Bedford County

4 departments report from this county.

Bedford County Fire Department
Shelbyville
FDID 02713 150 incidents 17 paid 120 vol
Shelbyville Fire Department
Shelbyville
FDID 02323 118 incidents 40 paid
Bell Buckle VFD
Bell Buckle
FDID 02111 30 incidents 10 vol
Wartrace Volunteer Fire Department
Wartrace
FDID 02131 0 incidents 15 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in TN

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Chimney Tops 2 2016 NPS 15,642
2 SHARP 2001 NPS 6,705
3 Halls Top 2016 USFS 2,462
4 GREEN MTN 2001 NPS 2,287
5 DARROW RDG 2000 NPS 2,265
6 Stony Ridge 2009 NPS 2,191
7 LAUREL RDG 1987 NPS 1,969
8 Railroad Grade 2016 USFS 1,746
9 SHOP 1988 NPS 1,303
10 State Line 2016 USFS 1,238

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.