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2025 County Report

Fires in Washington County, TN

In 2025, fire departments serving Washington County responded to 1,191 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $300K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

89,289 residents FIPS 47179 55 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
1,191
5,584 across 5 years
Building fires
147
215 wildland
Property loss
$5.6M
$4.3M structure · $1.4M contents
Casualties
0 / 5
0 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 3 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.

1,191
Total Incidents
Building fires 147 12.3%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 135 11.3%
Authorized controlled burning 120 10.1%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 108 9.1%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 93 7.8%
All other categories 588 49.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Washington County?

Mar peaks. Aug dips.

Jan 101
Feb 105
Mar 170
Apr 102
May 82
Jun 87
Jul 99
Aug 67
Sep 89
Oct 86
Nov 115
Dec 88
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Washington County

5,584 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 904
2022 1,201
2023 1,111
2024 1,177
2025 1,191
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 147 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
40%
126
Cause undetermined
20%
63
Intentional / arson
15%
47
Equipment / heat source failure
10%
32
Under investigation
10%
32
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
9
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Washington County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 48% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $300,000 Johnson City Building fires Major
2 $264,000 Jonesborough Building fires Major
3 $250,000 Gray Building fires Major
4 $233,000 Jonesborough Building fires Significant
5 $200,000 JOHNSON CITY Building fires Significant
6 $180,000 Jonesborough Building fires Significant
7 $175,000 Johnson City Building fires Significant
8 $150,000 Johnson City Building fires Significant
9 $150,000 Limestone Building fires Significant
10 $150,000 Johnson City Building fires Significant
06 How Washington County compares

Washington County vs TN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.34
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Washington County
13.34
TN avg
11.07
US avg
7.15
1.65
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Washington County
1.65
TN avg
1.37
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Washington County
0
TN avg
15
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Washington County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 47179.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Washington County

8 departments report from this county.

Johnson City Fire Department
Johnson City
FDID 90252 546 incidents 121 paid
Jonesborough FD
Jonesborough
FDID 90161 149 incidents 7 paid
Gray VFD
Gray
FDID 90141 133 incidents 27 vol
Embreeville Volunteer Fire Department
Erwin
FDID 90191 84 incidents 30 vol
Fall Branch Volunteer Fire Department
Fall Branch
FDID 90131 64 incidents 29 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.