In 2025, fire departments serving Nortonville responded to 38 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 68% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
198 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $41K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 46 | — | |
| 2023 | 56 | +21.7% | |
| 2024 | 45 | -19.6% | |
| 2025 | 38 | -15.6% |
* Well below Nortonville'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 7 building fires Nortonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 107 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 | 27 | 25.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 11 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 20.6% |
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 Nortonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 63 | 58.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 5.6% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Match | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 4.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Nortonville departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Nortonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,663 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 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,050 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 570 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 517 | 2.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 12.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 22.9 mi |
Top 2 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 Nortonville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Nortonville.
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.