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2025 County Report

Fires in McCracken County, KY

In 2025, fire departments serving McCracken County responded to 405 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss.

45,909 residents FIPS 21145 29 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
405
2,277 across 5 years
Building fires
39
33 wildland
Property loss
$849K
$611K structure · $238K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.

405
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 101 24.9%
Power line down 40 9.9%
Building fires 39 9.6%
Grass fire 19 4.7%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 17 4.2%
All other categories 189 46.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in McCracken County?

Jan peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 52
Feb 33
Mar 48
Apr 32
May 24
Jun 14
Jul 39
Aug 34
Sep 40
Oct 38
Nov 30
Dec 21
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in McCracken County

2,277 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 433
2022 463
2023 513
2024 463
2025 405
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 39 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
53%
61
Cause undetermined
15%
17
Intentional / arson
16%
19
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
10
Under investigation
7%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $485K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in McCracken County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 79% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $100,000 PADUCAH Building fires Significant
2 $85,000 PADUCAH Building fires Significant
3 $80,000 PADUCAH Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
4 $50,000 PADUCAH Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
5 $35,000 PADUCAH Building fires Significant
6 $30,000 PADUCAH Building fires Significant
7 $30,000 PADUCAH Building fires Significant
8 $30,000 PADUCAH Building fires Significant
9 $25,000 PADUCAH Building fires Significant
10 $20,000 PADUCAH Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
06 How McCracken County compares

McCracken County vs KY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.82
Incidents per 1,000 residents
McCracken County
8.82
KY avg
10.83
US avg
7.15
0.85
Building fires per 1,000 residents
McCracken County
0.85
KY avg
1.34
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
McCracken County
0
KY avg
13.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in McCracken County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 21145.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in McCracken County

8 departments report from this county.

PADUCAH
Paducah
FDID 73423 295 incidents 60 paid
WEST MCCRACKEN
—
FDID 73425 63 incidents
LONE OAK
—
FDID 73421 52 incidents
CONCORD
—
FDID 73419 18 incidents
PGDP Fire Services
Kevil
FDID 73796 6 incidents 43 paid
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.