In 2025, fire departments serving Letcher County responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $150K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips.
464 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 122 | |
| 2022 | 112 | |
| 2023 | 97 | |
| 2024 | 74 | |
| 2025 | 59 |
For the 11 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Letcher County during 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Whitesburg | Fire, other | Significant |
| 2 | $150,000 | Whitesburg | Fire, other | Significant |
| 3 | $500 | Whitesburg | Special outside fire, other | Significant |
| 4 | $250 | Whitesburg | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 21133.
8 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.