In 2025, fire departments serving Southgate responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
89 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $321K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | — | |
| 2023 | 30 | +76.5% | |
| 2024* | 3 | — | |
| 2025 | 29 | — |
* Well below Southgate'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 3 building fires Southgate departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | 5 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 14.3% |
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 Southgate mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 39.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Sunlight | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Southgate departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Southgate sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 799 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 11.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 45 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 25.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 6.6 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 Southgate. 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.