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In 2025, fire departments serving Louisville responded to 71 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
470 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 87 | — | |
| 2022 | 127 | +46.0% | |
| 2023 | 88 | -30.7% | |
| 2024 | 97 | +10.2% | |
| 2025 | 71 | -26.8% |
For the 2 building fires Louisville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 87 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 | 14.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 30 | 34.5% |
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 Louisville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 17.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Louisville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $130 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Louisville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 217,007 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Natural | 87,275 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,833 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,699 | 41.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 11,875 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 10,800 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,599 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,106 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 8,908 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 6,382 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,200 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,348 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 4,142 | 37.2 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 Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Louisville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Louisville.
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.