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2025 County Report

Fires in Hardeman County, TN

In 2025, fire departments serving Hardeman County responded to 137 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $530K property loss.

12,588 residents FIPS 47069 26 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
137
1,129 across 5 years
Building fires
26
45 wildland
Property loss
$3.0M
$2.5M structure · $522K contents
Casualties
3 / 1
3 civ deaths · 1 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 70% of all calls.

137
Total Incidents
Building fires 26 19.0%
Grass fire 24 17.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 18 13.1%
Fire, other 16 11.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 12 8.8%
All other categories 41 29.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Hardeman County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 24
Feb 22
Mar 27
Apr 7
May 5
Jun 8
Jul 10
Aug 7
Sep 10
Oct 4
Nov 8
Dec 5
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Hardeman County

1,129 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 169
2022 270
2023 299
2024 254
2025 137
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 26 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
29%
23
Cause undetermined
51%
40
Intentional / arson
4%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
6
Under investigation
5%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Hardeman County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 68% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $530,000 Whiteville Building fires Major
2 $300,000 MIDDLETON Fire, other Major
3 $175,000 POCAHONTAS Fire, other Significant
4 $150,300 Bolivar Building fires Significant
5 $129,500 Grand Junction Building fires Significant
6 $100,000 MIDDLETON Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
7 $100,000 BOLIVAR Fire, other Significant
8 $80,000 POCAHONTAS Fire, other Significant
9 $80,000 MIDDLETON Fire, other Significant
10 $65,000 Bolivar Building fires Significant
06 How Hardeman County compares

Hardeman County vs TN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

10.88
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hardeman County
10.88
TN avg
11.07
US avg
7.15
2.07
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hardeman County
2.07
TN avg
1.37
US avg
0.82
238.3
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hardeman County
238.3
TN avg
15
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Hardeman County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 47069.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Hardeman County

10 departments report from this county.

Middleton VFD
Middleton
FDID 35141 52 incidents
Bolivar Fire Dept
Bolivar
FDID 35213 34 incidents 11 paid 22 vol
Grand Junction Fire Department
Grand Junction
FDID 35121 12 incidents 22 vol
Hornsby Volunteer Fire Department
Hornsby
FDID 35131 8 incidents 14 vol
Whiteville Fire Department
Whiteville
FDID 35161 8 incidents 16 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.