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2025 County Report

Fires in Clay County, KY

In 2025, fire departments serving Clay County responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $15K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

2,464 residents FIPS 21051 55 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
18
96 across 5 years
Building fires
10
1 wildland
Property loss
$15K
$15K structure · $8 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 95% of all calls.

18
Total Incidents
Building fires 10 55.6%
Passenger vehicle fire 4 22.2%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 1 5.6%
Grass fire 1 5.6%
Hazardous condition, other 1 5.6%
All other categories 1 5.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Clay County?

Apr peaks. Jul dips.

Jan 4
Feb 2
Mar 1
Apr 6
May 2
Jun 3
Jul 0
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Clay County

96 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 14
2022 33
2023 13
2024 18
2025 18
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 10 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
0%
0
Cause undetermined
85%
11
Intentional / arson
8%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
05 The biggest fires

9 fires · $15K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Clay County during 2025. These 9 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $15,000 Manchester Passenger vehicle fire Significant
2 $1 Manchester Passenger vehicle fire Significant
3 $1 Manchester Building fires Significant
4 $1 Manchester Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $1 Manchester Building fires Significant
6 $1 Manchester Building fires Significant
7 $1 Manchester Building fires Significant
8 $1 Manchester Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $1 Manchester Building fires Significant
06 How Clay County compares

Clay County vs KY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

7.31
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Clay County
7.31
KY avg
10.83
US avg
7.15
4.06
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Clay County
4.06
KY avg
1.34
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Clay County
0
KY avg
13.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Clay County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 21051.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Clay County

7 departments report from this county.

MANCHESTER
MANCHESTER
FDID 26128 16 incidents 28 vol
RED BIRD VOLUNTEER
Beverly
FDID 26129 1 incidents 23 vol
BIG CREEK RESCUE FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 26660 1 incidents
FOGERTOWN
—
FDID 26772 1 incidents
BURNING SPRINGS
—
FDID 26127 0 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in KY

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Cut Gap 2022 USFS 2,468
2 Blockhouse 2006 USFS 1,896
3 KDF - Confluence 2 2024 USFS 675
4 Addison 2016 USFS 643
5 POORVALLEY 1986 NPS 626
6 Big Valley 2021 USFS 552
7 CUB RUN 1935 NPS 499
8 Hurricane 2022 USFS 485
9 Rockcastle Fire 2019 USFS 484
10 Enoch 2021 USFS 429

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.