In 2025, fire departments serving Vanceburg responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 65% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
76 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $123K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 19 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023* | 6 | — | |
| 2024 | 25 | — | |
| 2025 | 20 | -20.0% |
* Well below Vanceburg'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 6 building fires Vanceburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | 16 | 53.3% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.3% |
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 Vanceburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 83.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Vanceburg departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vanceburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,905 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,865 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,102 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 17.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 1.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 23.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 591 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 527 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 476 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 17.0 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 Vanceburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Vanceburg.
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.