In 2025, fire departments serving Cynthiana responded to 630 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 97% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,924 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $421K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 388 | — | |
| 2022 | 558 | +43.8% | |
| 2023 | 639 | +14.5% | |
| 2024 | 709 | +11.0% | |
| 2025 | 630 | -11.1% |
For the 18 building fires Cynthiana departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 186 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 63 | 33.9% | |
| 2 | Multiple areas | 15 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 14 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 9 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Other | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 49 | 26.3% |
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 Cynthiana mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 34 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 34 | 18.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 32 | 17.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 18 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 9.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cynthiana sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,246 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,102 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 591 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 375 | 46.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Smoking | 198 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 170 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 152 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 151 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 150 | 45.8 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 Cynthiana. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cynthiana.
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.