Home› Counties› TN› Jefferson County
2025 County Report

Fires in Jefferson County, TN

In 2025, fire departments serving Jefferson County responded to 539 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $2.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

19,635 residents FIPS 47089 29 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
539
2,765 across 5 years
Building fires
190
73 wildland
Property loss
$10.8M
$10.1M structure · $757K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.

539
Total Incidents
Building fires 190 35.3%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 54 10.0%
Authorized controlled burning 30 5.6%
Aircraft standby 29 5.4%
Passenger vehicle fire 26 4.8%
All other categories 210 39.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Jefferson County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 37
Feb 44
Mar 106
Apr 85
May 30
Jun 28
Jul 56
Aug 34
Sep 17
Oct 25
Nov 43
Dec 34
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Jefferson County

2,765 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 508
2022 646
2023 510
2024 562
2025 539
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 190 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
45%
92
Cause undetermined
19%
39
Intentional / arson
12%
25
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
18
Under investigation
14%
28
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $9.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Jefferson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 91% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $2,500,000 Jefferson City Building fires Major
2 $2,500,000 Jefferson City Building fires Major
3 $2,500,000 Jefferson City Building fires Major
4 $500,000 WHITE PINE Building fires Major
5 $285,000 DANDRIDGE Building fires Major
6 $197,500 WHITE PINE Building fires Significant
7 $180,000 Talbott Building fires Significant
8 $175,000 Jefferson City Building fires Significant
9 $150,000 White Pine Building fires Significant
10 $150,000 NEW MARKET Building fires Significant
06 How Jefferson County compares

Jefferson County vs TN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

27.45
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Jefferson County
27.45
TN avg
11.07
US avg
7.15
9.68
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Jefferson County
9.68
TN avg
1.37
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Jefferson County
0
TN avg
15
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Jefferson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 47089.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Jefferson County

9 departments report from this county.

Jefferson City Fire Department
Jefferson
FDID 45763 114 incidents 5 paid 21 vol
White Pine Volunteer Fire Department
White Pine
FDID 45131 109 incidents 30 vol
Dandridge Volunteer Fire Department
Dandridge
FDID 45113 78 incidents 32 vol
KansasTalbott Volunteer Fire Department
Talbott
FDID 45161 57 incidents 22 vol
Lakeway Central Volunteer Fire Department
Jefferson City
FDID 45141 55 incidents 25 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.