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2025 County Report

Fires in Lee County, KY

In 2025, fire departments serving Lee County responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

1,956 residents FIPS 21129 34 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
19
645 across 5 years
Building fires
2
7 wildland
Property loss
$435K
$305K structure · $130K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.

19
Total Incidents
Forest, woods or wildland fire 4 21.1%
Building fires 2 10.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 10.5%
Grass fire 2 10.5%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 2 10.5%
All other categories 7 36.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lee County?

Nov peaks. Jan dips.

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

Year over year in Lee County

645 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 158
2022 179
2023 136
2024 153
2025 19
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 2 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
80%
4
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
20%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $305K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Beattyville Building fires Major
2 $50,000 Beattyville Building fires Significant
3 $5,000 Beattyville Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
06 How Lee County compares

Lee County vs KY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

9.71
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lee County
9.71
KY avg
10.83
US avg
7.15
1.02
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lee County
1.02
KY avg
1.34
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lee County
0
KY avg
13.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lee County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 21129.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lee County

7 departments report from this county.

SMITHLAND
—
FDID 70374 50 incidents
PRIMROSE VOLUNTEER
—
FDID 65807 19 incidents
Beattyville Fire Department
Beattyville
FDID 65350 0 incidents 34 vol
LEE COUNTY
Beattyville
FDID 65351 0 incidents
BEAR TRACK
Beattyville
FDID 65833 0 incidents 21 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.