In 2025, fire departments serving Jackson responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
321 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | — | |
| 2022 | 68 | +7.9% | |
| 2023 | 74 | +8.8% | |
| 2024 | 70 | -5.4% | |
| 2025 | 46 | -34.3% |
For the 5 building fires Jackson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 150 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 | 78 | 52.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 9 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 8 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 14.7% |
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 Jackson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 111 | 74.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Jackson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $4,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jackson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 89,072 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 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,500 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,400 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,070 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,539 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,500 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,406 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,300 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,100 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,040 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 33.2 mi |
Top 2 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 Jackson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Jackson.
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.