In 2025, fire departments serving Highland Heights responded to 60 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $120K 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 50% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
163 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $203K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 30 | — | |
| 2023 | 22 | -26.7% | |
| 2024 | 35 | +59.1% | |
| 2025 | 60 | +71.4% |
* Well below Highland Heights'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 11 building fires Highland Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 30.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 18.6% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 11.6% |
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 Highland Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 34 | 79.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Highland Heights departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Highland Heights sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 849 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 11.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 9.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 45 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 24.5 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 Highland Heights. 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.