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2025 County Report

Fires in Obion County, TN

In 2025, fire departments serving Obion County responded to 334 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss.

17,854 residents FIPS 47131 34 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
334
1,510 across 5 years
Building fires
71
59 wildland
Property loss
$1.9M
$1.3M structure · $518K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 1 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.

334
Total Incidents
Building fires 71 21.3%
Grass fire 38 11.4%
Aircraft standby 38 11.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 30 9.0%
Authorized controlled burning 25 7.5%
All other categories 132 39.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Obion County?

Mar peaks. Aug dips.

Jan 33
Feb 39
Mar 48
Apr 45
May 32
Jun 19
Jul 20
Aug 13
Sep 21
Oct 26
Nov 18
Dec 20
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Obion County

1,510 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 308
2022 258
2023 263
2024 347
2025 334
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 71 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
31%
34
Cause undetermined
21%
23
Intentional / arson
20%
22
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
16
Under investigation
6%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
7%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Obion County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 86% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 TROY Building fires Major
2 $245,000 Union City Building fires Significant
3 $175,500 Union City Building fires Significant
4 $151,275 UNION CITY Building fires Significant
5 $129,500 Troy Building fires Significant
6 $72,900 UNION CITY Building fires Significant
7 $50,000 Rives Building fires Significant
8 $30,000 South Fulton Building fires Significant
9 $25,000 UNION CITY Building fires Significant
10 $25,000 union city Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
06 How Obion County compares

Obion County vs TN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

18.71
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Obion County
18.71
TN avg
11.07
US avg
7.15
3.98
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Obion County
3.98
TN avg
1.37
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Obion County
0
TN avg
15
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Obion County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 47131.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Obion County

8 departments report from this county.

Union City Fire Department
Union City
FDID 66372 166 incidents 29 paid
South Fulton Fire Dept
So Fulton
FDID 66153 65 incidents 2 paid
Rives Volunteer Fire Department
Rives
FDID 66191 61 incidents 20 vol
SamburgReelfoot Volunteer Fire Department
Samburg
FDID 66141 34 incidents 21 vol
Kenton Volunteer Fire Department
Kenton
FDID 66121 25 incidents
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.