The Tennessee fire marshal's office said only 305 of the state's 694 departments submitted information last year to the computerized Tennessee Fire Incident Reporting System.
The system tracks a number of variables, including how many and what kind of fires departments responded to, the nature of the fire and the number of injuries or deaths.
For its population, Tennessee's fire death rate is twice the national average and second only to Mississippi as the worst in the country.
Alan Dyke, chief of the Claxton Community Volunteer Fire Department in McMinn County, said his department didn't submit a report in 2003 because of ``a time factor.''
``The state provided us with software, but we didn't have a computer at the station at the time,'' he said.
This year, his station is planning to submit reports because they need to be considered for federal grants.
``We applied for a federal grant last year and didn't get it,'' he said. ``It's my understanding you've got to be established in reporting before your application is taken seriously.''
Rick Atchley, deputy chief of the Cleveland Fire Department said the reporting greatly benefits their department.
``It's an aid telling us where problem areas may be and lets us look at trends, giving us an advantage to prepare for it,'' he said.
In recent years, Cleveland Fire Department received a $300,000 federal grant to buy breathing tanks and masks for firefighters.
Paula Wade, spokeswoman for the fire marshal's office, said it is difficult to convince some volunteer departments that reporting should be a priority.
``Because so many Tennessee fire departments are volunteer departments that are operating on a shoestring, they don't have people hanging around who can enter data into the computer and have that as part of their job description,'' she said.
The state is trying to make it easier for departments. The fire training academy offers classes to firefighters in filling out and submitting the computer reports for $45.
