In 2025, fire departments serving Glasgow responded to 295 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 52% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,116 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $6.4M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 191 | — | |
| 2022 | 222 | +16.2% | |
| 2023 | 238 | +7.2% | |
| 2024 | 170 | -28.6% | |
| 2025 | 295 | +73.5% |
For the 38 building fires Glasgow departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 408 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 | 186 | 45.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 41 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 33 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 17 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 61 | 15.0% |
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 Glasgow mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 273 | 66.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 27 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 19 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Glasgow departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 64% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Outside equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $120,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Glasgow sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,247 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 845 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 584 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 457 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 400 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 370 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 282 | 23.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 220 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 215 | 36.3 mi |
Top 8 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 Glasgow. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Glasgow.
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.