In 2025, fire departments serving Harlan responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
74 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $148K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | -9.5% | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 14 | — | |
| 2025 | 13 | -7.1% |
* Well below Harlan'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 0 building fires Harlan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | 5 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Wall assembly | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 1 | 5.6% |
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 Harlan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 61.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Harlan departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Harlan sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 90,047 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,000 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,400 | 10.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,700 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,070 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,040 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,860 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,675 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,539 | 3.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,500 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,406 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,300 | 14.8 mi |
Top 3 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 Harlan. 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.