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2025 County Report

Fires in Union County, TN

In 2025, fire departments serving Union County responded to 149 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $75K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

5,729 residents FIPS 47173 22 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
149
705 across 5 years
Building fires
47
41 wildland
Property loss
$119K
$93K structure · $26K contents
Casualties
2 / 1
2 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 69% of all calls.

149
Total Incidents
Building fires 47 31.5%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 24 16.1%
Fire, other 12 8.1%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 12 8.1%
Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence 7 4.7%
All other categories 47 31.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Union County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 17
Feb 15
Mar 43
Apr 14
May 4
Jun 13
Jul 18
Aug 9
Sep 4
Oct 3
Nov 3
Dec 6
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Union County

705 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 133
2022 162
2023 168
2024 93
2025 149
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 47 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
44%
34
Cause undetermined
24%
19
Intentional / arson
15%
12
Equipment / heat source failure
4%
3
Under investigation
10%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
2
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $93K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Union County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $75,000 Maynardville Building fires Significant
2 $15,000 Maynardville Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
3 $2,600 Maynardville Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Union County compares

Union County vs TN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

26.01
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Union County
26.01
TN avg
11.07
US avg
7.15
8.2
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Union County
8.2
TN avg
1.37
US avg
0.82
349.1
Civilian fire deaths per million
Union County
349.1
TN avg
15
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Union County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 47173.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Union County

5 departments report from this county.

Maynardville Volunteer Fire Department
Maynardville
FDID 87111 44 incidents 10 vol
Sharps Chapel VFD
Sharps Chapel
FDID 87811 41 incidents 30 vol
Luttrell Volunteer Fire Department
Luttrell
FDID 87121 29 incidents 15 vol
Paulette Volunteer Fire Department
Maynardville
FDID 87831 21 incidents 20 vol
Northeast Union County Volunteer Fire Department
Maynardville
FDID 87821 15 incidents 19 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.