In 2025, fire departments serving Brooks responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $140K 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 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
123 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $353K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023 | 24 | — | |
| 2024 | 51 | +112.5% | |
| 2025 | 42 | -17.6% |
* Well below Brooks's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 6 building fires Brooks departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | 10 | 41.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 1 | 4.2% |
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 Brooks mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 62.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brooks departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $400 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brooks sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,091 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 10.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 215 | 37.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 201 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 49.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 144 | 13.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 125 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 117 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 30.6 mi |
Top 3 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 Brooks. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.