In 2025, fire departments serving Crittenden responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
52 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | — | |
| 2023 | 15 | +7.1% | |
| 2024 | 7 | -53.3% | |
| 2025 | 12 | +71.4% |
* Well below Crittenden'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 4 building fires Crittenden departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Function area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Crittenden mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 7.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Crittenden sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,824 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 74 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 46.1 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41030 | 52 |
Six Kentucky cities with population within ±25% of Crittenden. 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.