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2025 County Report

Fires in Rhea County, TN

In 2025, fire departments serving Rhea County responded to 267 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $803K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

10,981 residents FIPS 47143 32 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
267
1,531 across 5 years
Building fires
31
33 wildland
Property loss
$2.9M
$2.0M structure · $914K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Aircraft standby lead by count. Top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.

267
Total Incidents
Aircraft standby 44 16.5%
Building fires 31 11.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 28 10.5%
Authorized controlled burning 25 9.4%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 19 7.1%
All other categories 120 44.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Rhea County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 13
Feb 33
Mar 43
Apr 22
May 29
Jun 32
Jul 25
Aug 16
Sep 21
Oct 13
Nov 11
Dec 9
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Rhea County

1,531 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 267
2022 391
2023 373
2024 233
2025 267
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 31 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
37%
30
Cause undetermined
22%
18
Intentional / arson
11%
9
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
11
Under investigation
11%
9
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.8M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Rhea County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 88% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $802,800 DAYTON Building fires Major
2 $285,300 Dayton Building fires Major
3 $150,000 DAYTON Building fires Significant
4 $141,700 DAYTON Building fires Significant
5 $140,400 DAYTON Building fires Significant
6 $80,000 EVENSVILLE Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
7 $55,000 DAYTON Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
8 $50,000 DAYTON Building fires Significant
9 $42,000 SPRING CITY Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
10 $30,000 DAYTON Building fires Significant
06 How Rhea County compares

Rhea County vs TN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

24.31
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Rhea County
24.31
TN avg
11.07
US avg
7.15
2.82
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Rhea County
2.82
TN avg
1.37
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Rhea County
0
TN avg
15
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Rhea County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 47143.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Rhea County

4 departments report from this county.

Rhea County Fire Department
Evensville
FDID 72141 117 incidents 160 vol
Dayton Fire Dept
Dayton
FDID 72123 69 incidents 9 paid
Spring City Fire Department
Spring City
FDID 72161 39 incidents 5 paid 20 vol
City of Graysville Volunteer Fire Department
Graysville
FDID 72131 10 incidents 34 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.