In 2025, fire departments serving Falmouth responded to 66 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
229 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $815K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60 | — | |
| 2022 | 71 | +18.3% | |
| 2023* | 24 | — | |
| 2024* | 8 | — | |
| 2025 | 66 | — |
* Well below Falmouth'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 9 building fires Falmouth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 65 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 | 40 | 61.5% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Vacant structural area | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 10.8% |
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 Falmouth mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 53 | 81.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Sunlight | 1 | 1.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Falmouth departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Falmouth sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,436 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 591 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 151 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 150 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 95 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 93 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 80 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 49.6 mi |
Top 7 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 Falmouth. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Falmouth.
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.