In 2025, fire departments serving Earlington responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $180K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
135 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $732K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 30 | -16.7% | |
| 2023* | 14 | — | |
| 2024 | 22 | — | |
| 2025 | 33 | +50.0% |
* Well below Earlington'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 5 building fires Earlington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 44 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 | 21 | 47.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 9.1% |
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 Earlington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 90.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Earlington departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Earlington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,458 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,400 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,050 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 570 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 517 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 13.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 7.5 mi |
Top 2 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 Earlington. 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.