In 2025, fire departments serving Russell Springs responded to 82 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 56% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
483 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 128 | — | |
| 2023 | 146 | +14.1% | |
| 2024 | 99 | -32.2% | |
| 2025 | 82 | -17.2% |
* Well below Russell Springs'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 17 building fires Russell Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 145 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 26 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 19 | 13.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 47 | 32.4% |
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 Russell Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Molten, hot material | 43 | 29.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 25 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 13 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 9.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Russell Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 67% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Russell Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 31,497 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,646 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,398 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,537 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,079 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,952 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,536 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,088 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 990 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 959 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 958 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 940 | 13.2 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 Russell Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Russell Springs.
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.