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2025 County Report

Fires in Knox County, KY

In 2025, fire departments serving Knox County responded to 7 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

4,767 residents FIPS 21121 38 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
7
149 across 5 years
Building fires
1
0 wildland
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.

7
Total Incidents
Power line down 2 28.6%
Fire, other 1 14.3%
Building fires 1 14.3%
Fires in structures other than in a building 1 14.3%
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 1 14.3%
All other categories 1 14.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Knox County?

Feb peaks. Apr dips.

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

Year over year in Knox County

149 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 44
2022 53
2023 26
2024 19
2025 7
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 1 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
0%
0
Cause undetermined
100%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
06 How Knox County compares

Knox County vs KY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

1.47
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Knox County
1.47
KY avg
10.83
US avg
7.15
0.21
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Knox County
0.21
KY avg
1.34
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Knox County
0
KY avg
13.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Knox County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 21121.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Knox County

8 departments report from this county.

BAILEY SWITCH
Barbourville
FDID 61664 4 incidents 22 vol
BARBOURVILLE
—
FDID 61330 1 incidents
RICHLAND
—
FDID 61332 1 incidents
WEST KNOX
corbin
FDID 61331 0 incidents 38 vol
EAST KNOX
—
FDID 61333 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.