In 2025, fire departments serving Louisa responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
385 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $946K cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 85 | — | |
| 2022 | 87 | +2.4% | |
| 2023 | 87 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 53 | -39.1% | |
| 2025 | 73 | +37.7% |
For the 21 building fires Louisa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 119 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 | 35 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 18.5% |
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 Louisa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 54.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 13.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 5.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Louisa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 70,211 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 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,500 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Fireworks | 4,552 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,475 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 43.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,575 | 47.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,500 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 2,412 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,250 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,233 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,200 | 18.1 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 Louisa. 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.