In 2025, fire departments serving Louisville responded to 80 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
391 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54 | — | |
| 2022 | 75 | +38.9% | |
| 2023 | 92 | +22.7% | |
| 2024 | 90 | -2.2% | |
| 2025 | 80 | -11.1% |
For the 10 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 170 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 | 24 | 14.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 19 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 17 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 24.7% |
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 Louisville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 69 | 40.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 15 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 12.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Louisville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $45,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Louisville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 104,833 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 17,140 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,641 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,586 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 8,134 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,788 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,580 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,040 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,450 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,231 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,944 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 41.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 37777 | 391 |
Six Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Louisville. 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.