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2025 County Report

Fires in Johnson County, KY

In 2025, fire departments serving Johnson County responded to 108 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $15K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

5,930 residents FIPS 21115 38 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
108
528 across 5 years
Building fires
24
12 wildland
Property loss
$34K
$28K structure · $6K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.

108
Total Incidents
Building fires 24 22.2%
Power line down 22 20.4%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 8 7.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 8 7.4%
Hazardous condition, other 7 6.5%
All other categories 39 36.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Johnson County?

Jan peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 14
Feb 9
Mar 13
Apr 13
May 7
Jun 14
Jul 14
Aug 5
Sep 6
Oct 7
Nov 4
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Johnson County

528 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 75
2022 100
2023 100
2024 145
2025 108
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 24 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
62%
18
Cause undetermined
10%
3
Intentional / arson
14%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
2
Under investigation
7%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $28K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Johnson County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $15,000 Stambaugh Building fires Significant
2 $11,000 Staffordsville Passenger vehicle fire Significant
3 $2,000 Tutor Key Building fires Significant
06 How Johnson County compares

Johnson County vs KY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

18.21
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Johnson County
18.21
KY avg
10.83
US avg
7.15
4.05
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Johnson County
4.05
KY avg
1.34
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Johnson County
0
KY avg
13.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Johnson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 21115.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Johnson County

9 departments report from this county.

WR CASTLE
—
FDID 58631 50 incidents
PAINTSVILLE
—
FDID 58307 31 incidents
WEST VAN LEAR
West Van Lear
FDID 58308 29 incidents
OIL SPRINGS
—
FDID 58306 0 incidents
THELMA
thelma
FDID 58310 0 incidents 23 vol
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.