In 2025, fire departments serving Pine Knot responded to 54 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
201 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $55K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 36 | +28.6% | |
| 2023 | 28 | -22.2% | |
| 2024 | 55 | +96.4% | |
| 2025 | 54 | -1.8% |
For the 10 building fires Pine Knot departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 138 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 | 114 | 82.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 9 | Personal service area, barber/beauty salon area | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 3.6% |
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 Pine Knot mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 126 | 91.3% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 0.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pine Knot departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pine Knot sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 77,462 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10,586 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 8,134 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,700 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,646 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,040 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,675 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,398 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,944 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,925 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,537 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,500 | 47.9 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 Pine Knot. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pine Knot.
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.