In 2025, fire departments serving Villa Hills responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
150 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $932K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | +140.0% | |
| 2023 | 23 | -52.1% | |
| 2024 | 28 | +21.7% | |
| 2025 | 31 | +10.7% |
For the 3 building fires Villa Hills departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 12 | 27.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 25.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 9.3% |
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 Villa Hills mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 30.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 18.6% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 14.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Villa Hills departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $9,800 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $7,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Villa Hills sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,831 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 74 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 44.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41017 | 150 |
Six Kentucky cities with population within ±25% of Villa Hills. 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.