In 2025, fire departments serving Pineville responded to 66 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
337 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022 | 58 | -13.4% | |
| 2023 | 86 | +48.3% | |
| 2024 | 60 | -30.2% | |
| 2025 | 66 | +10.0% |
For the 13 building fires Pineville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 139 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 | 53 | 38.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 14 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 10 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 15.1% |
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 Pineville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 77 | 55.4% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 15 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pineville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pineville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 88,405 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 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 8,134 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,400 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,700 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,040 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,860 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,675 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,539 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,406 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,300 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,040 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 38.5 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 Pineville. 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.