In 2025, fire departments serving Henderson responded to 369 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,707 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 289 | — | |
| 2022 | 342 | +18.3% | |
| 2023 | 374 | +9.4% | |
| 2024 | 333 | -11.0% | |
| 2025 | 369 | +10.8% |
For the 28 building fires Henderson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 447 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 | Outside area, other | 121 | 27.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 54 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 44 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 40 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 38 | 8.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Other | 13 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 11 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 87 | 19.5% |
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 Henderson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 248 | 55.5% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 31 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 30 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 24 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 23 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 7.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Henderson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Henderson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,204 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 716 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 517 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 418 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 365 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 265 | 47.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Henderson. 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.