In 2025, fire departments serving Manchester responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
64 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $25K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | +81.8% | |
| 2023* | 4 | — | |
| 2024 | 11 | — | |
| 2025 | 18 | +63.6% |
* Well below Manchester'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 11 building fires Manchester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | 14 | 60.9% | |
| 2 | Other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 4.3% |
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 Manchester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 87.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Manchester departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Manchester sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 89,669 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 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,400 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,700 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,070 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,040 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,860 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,675 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,539 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,500 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 3,500 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,406 | 7.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,300 | 42.6 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 Manchester. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Manchester.
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.