In 2025, fire departments serving Harrodsburg responded to 138 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
833 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 180 | — | |
| 2022 | 147 | -18.3% | |
| 2023 | 176 | +19.7% | |
| 2024 | 192 | +9.1% | |
| 2025 | 138 | -28.1% |
For the 12 building fires Harrodsburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 377 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 | 82 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 80 | 21.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 36 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 34 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 18 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 8 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 7 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 77 | 20.4% |
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 Harrodsburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 218 | 57.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 4.5% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 17 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 15 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 11 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Match | 5 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 43 | 11.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Harrodsburg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Harrodsburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,122 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,537 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,100 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 896 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 622 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 551 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 516 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 404 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 403 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 338 | 39.6 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40330 | 833 |
Six Kentucky cities with population within ±25% of Harrodsburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Harrodsburg.
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.