In 2025, fire departments serving Middletown responded to 91 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
May peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
97 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $51K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023* | 3 | — | |
| 2024* | 3 | — | |
| 2025 | 91 | — |
* Well below Middletown'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 6 building fires Middletown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Assembly area without fixed seats - 100+ persons | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Sales area, showroom (exclude display window) | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Middletown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Middletown departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Middletown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,792 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 26.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 201 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 144 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 117 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 94 | 47.3 mi |
Top 6 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 Middletown. 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.