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2025 County Report

Fires in Jefferson County, KY

In 2025, fire departments serving Jefferson County responded to 5,459 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.8M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

778,821 residents FIPS 21111 83 cities · 23 fire depts
Total incidents
5,459
19,955 across 5 years
Building fires
559
277 wildland
Property loss
$38.1M
$26.7M structure · $11.5M contents
Casualties
1 / 31
1 civ deaths · 14 civ inj · 17 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.

5,459
Total Incidents
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 1,068 19.6%
Building fires 559 10.2%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 422 7.7%
Power line down 373 6.8%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 289 5.3%
All other categories 2,748 50.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Jefferson County?

May peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 374
Feb 393
Mar 526
Apr 450
May 572
Jun 453
Jul 529
Aug 458
Sep 438
Oct 428
Nov 468
Dec 370
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Jefferson County

19,955 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 3,313
2022 3,816
2023 4,009
2024 3,358
2025 5,459
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 559 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
47%
435
Cause undetermined
23%
212
Intentional / arson
5%
51
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
103
Under investigation
8%
77
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
19
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $8.6M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Jefferson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 32% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,811,600 LOUISVILLE Building fires Major
2 $1,000,000 LOUISVILLE Building fires Major
3 $1,000,000 LOUISVILLE Building fires Major
4 $1,000,000 Louisville Aircraft fire Major
5 $1,000,000 Louisville Aircraft fire Major
6 $639,180 Louisville Building fires Major
7 $589,400 LOUISVILLE Building fires Major
8 $580,520 Louisville Building fires Major
9 $500,000 LOUISVILLE Building fires Major
10 $500,000 LOUISVILLE Building fires Major
06 How Jefferson County compares

Jefferson County vs KY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

7.01
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Jefferson County
7.01
KY avg
10.83
US avg
7.15
0.72
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Jefferson County
0.72
KY avg
1.34
US avg
0.82
1.3
Civilian fire deaths per million
Jefferson County
1.3
KY avg
13.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Jefferson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 21111.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Jefferson County

23 departments report from this county.

Louisville Fire HQ
LOUISVILLE
FDID 56290 4,041 incidents 641 paid
PLEASURE RIDGE PARK
LOUISVILLE
FDID 56295 1,099 incidents 40 paid
FERN CREEK
—
FDID 56285 771 incidents
ST MATTHEWS
—
FDID 56296 314 incidents
FAIRDALE
—
FDID 56284 258 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.