In 2025, fire departments serving Radcliff responded to 109 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
651 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $311K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 104 | — | |
| 2022 | 120 | +15.4% | |
| 2023 | 138 | +15.0% | |
| 2024 | 180 | +30.4% | |
| 2025 | 109 | -39.4% |
For the 15 building fires Radcliff departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 179 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 23 | 12.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 23 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 21 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 10.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 23.5% |
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 Radcliff mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 98 | 54.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 8.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Match | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Radcliff departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Radcliff sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,188 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 584 | 40.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 400 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 215 | 20.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 201 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 182 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 170 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 144 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 144 | 11.7 mi |
Top 5 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 Radcliff. 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.