In 2025, fire departments serving Clay City responded to 34 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $117K 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 65% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
114 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $574K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | -4.0% | |
| 2023* | 11 | — | |
| 2024 | 20 | — | |
| 2025 | 34 | +70.0% |
* Well below Clay City'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 Clay City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 29 | 67.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Structural area, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 4.7% |
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 Clay City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 86.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clay City departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $117,100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $117,100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $750 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clay City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 42,100 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,406 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,000 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,000 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,500 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,200 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,100 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 33.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,910 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,640 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,500 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 40.2 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 Clay City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clay City.
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.