In 2025, fire departments serving Versailles responded to 154 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $550K 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 66% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
903 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 173 | — | |
| 2022 | 217 | +25.4% | |
| 2023 | 231 | +6.5% | |
| 2024 | 128 | -44.6% | |
| 2025 | 154 | +20.3% |
For the 1 building fires Versailles departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 222 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 | 59 | 26.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 38 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 32 | 14.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Other | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 14.9% |
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 Versailles mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 143 | 64.4% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 16 | 7.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Sunlight | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 6.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Versailles departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $550,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $135,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $65,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Versailles sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,138 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,100 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 551 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 516 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 338 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 238 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 230 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 220 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 49.3 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 Versailles. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Versailles.
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.