In 2025, fire departments serving Liberty responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
138 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $325K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38 | — | |
| 2022* | 7 | — | |
| 2023 | 20 | — | |
| 2024 | 40 | +100.0% | |
| 2025 | 33 | -17.5% |
* Well below Liberty'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 7 building fires Liberty departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 36 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 | 15 | 41.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Multiple areas | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 13.9% |
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 Liberty mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 72.2% | |
| 2 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 2.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Liberty departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Liberty sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,170 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 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,079 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,952 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 33.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 958 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 940 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 896 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 845 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 837 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 780 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 725 | 36.8 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 Liberty. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Liberty.
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.