In 2025, fire departments serving Frankfort responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 75% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
151 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $584K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 39 | — | |
| 2022 | 42 | +7.7% | |
| 2023 | 28 | -33.3% | |
| 2024* | 18 | — | |
| 2025 | 24 | — |
* Well below Frankfort'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 7 building fires Frankfort departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 73 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 | 32 | 43.8% | |
| 2 | Other | 8 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 12.3% |
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 Frankfort mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 39 | 53.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Match | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 9.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Frankfort departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Frankfort sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,894 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,865 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 476 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 400 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 146 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 146 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 137 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 131 | 44.2 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 Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Frankfort. 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.