In 2025, fire departments serving Elizabethtown responded to 169 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 48% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,132 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $759K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 186 | — | |
| 2022 | 200 | +7.5% | |
| 2023 | 298 | +49.0% | |
| 2024 | 279 | -6.4% | |
| 2025 | 169 | -39.4% |
For the 25 building fires Elizabethtown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 494 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 | Outside area, other | 87 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 72 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 67 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 16 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 16 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 13 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 138 | 27.9% |
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 Elizabethtown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 240 | 48.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 48 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 30 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 25 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 22 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 17 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 13 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 12 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 58 | 11.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elizabethtown departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elizabethtown sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,249 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 584 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 400 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 215 | 12.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 201 | 8.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 182 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 144 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 144 | 20.2 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 Elizabethtown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elizabethtown.
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.