In 2025, fire departments serving Benton responded to 134 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $440K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
721 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.9M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 95 | — | |
| 2022 | 195 | +105.3% | |
| 2023 | 170 | -12.8% | |
| 2024 | 127 | -25.3% | |
| 2025 | 134 | +5.5% |
For the 27 building fires Benton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 149 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 39 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 23 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 18 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 11.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 15.4% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Benton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 86 | 57.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 23 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Match | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 4.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Benton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $440,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $440,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $22,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $17,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Benton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,971 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 1,024 | 25.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 500 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Smoking | 311 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 271 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 15.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 234 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 227 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 221 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 190 | 44.5 mi |
Top 6 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Kentucky cities with population within ±25% of Benton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Benton.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.