In 2025, fire departments serving Madisonville responded to 226 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $287K 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 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,197 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 164 | — | |
| 2022 | 292 | +78.0% | |
| 2023 | 299 | +2.4% | |
| 2024 | 216 | -27.8% | |
| 2025 | 226 | +4.6% |
For the 40 building fires Madisonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 410 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 | 72 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 59 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 44 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 43 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 20 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 105 | 25.6% |
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 Madisonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 192 | 46.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 31 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 30 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 27 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 21 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 14 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 57 | 13.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Madisonville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 74% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $287,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $165,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $159,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Madisonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,458 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,400 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,050 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 570 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 517 | 13.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 14.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 7.0 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 Kentucky cities with population within ±25% of Madisonville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Madisonville.
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.