In 2025, fire departments serving Hodgenville responded to 81 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 69% of all calls.
Sep peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
308 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $853K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41 | — | |
| 2022 | 65 | +58.5% | |
| 2023 | 53 | -18.5% | |
| 2024 | 68 | +28.3% | |
| 2025 | 81 | +19.1% |
For the 21 building fires Hodgenville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 82 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 | 18 | 22.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 16 | 19.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 13.4% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 17.1% |
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 Hodgenville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 46.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 13.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hodgenville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hodgenville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,127 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 584 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 400 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 215 | 7.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 203 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 201 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 182 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 144 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 144 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 142 | 38.0 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 Hodgenville. 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.