In 2025, fire departments serving Perryville responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $203K 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 78% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
56 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | — | |
| 2023* | 3 | — | |
| 2024 | 14 | — | |
| 2025 | 23 | +64.3% |
* Well below Perryville'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 5 building fires Perryville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | Outside area, other | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 4.5% |
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 Perryville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 59.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Perryville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $203,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $203,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $121,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Perryville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,498 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,537 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 896 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 622 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 516 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 404 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 403 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 338 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 322 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 306 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 49.8 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 | 40468 | 56 |
Six Kentucky cities with population within ±25% of Perryville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Perryville.
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.