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2025 County Report

Fires in Meade County, KY

In 2025, fire departments serving Meade County responded to 150 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $170K property loss.

6,173 residents FIPS 21163 27 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
150
685 across 5 years
Building fires
31
24 wildland
Property loss
$459K
$321K structure · $139K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.

150
Total Incidents
Building fires 31 20.7%
Power line down 12 8.0%
Passenger vehicle fire 11 7.3%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 10 6.7%
Fire, other 9 6.0%
All other categories 77 51.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Meade County?

Apr peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 13
Feb 9
Mar 18
Apr 25
May 22
Jun 5
Jul 16
Aug 12
Sep 10
Oct 13
Nov 2
Dec 5
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Meade County

685 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 68
2022 170
2023 135
2024 162
2025 150
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 31 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
47%
23
Cause undetermined
16%
8
Intentional / arson
4%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
7
Under investigation
16%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $320K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Meade County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $170,000 Ekron Building fires Significant
2 $69,000 Brandenburg Building fires Significant
3 $40,000 Guston Building fires Significant
4 $18,000 Guston Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $5,000 Brandenburg Building fires Significant
6 $5,000 Ekron Building fires Significant
7 $5,000 Guston Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
8 $4,000 Ekron Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
9 $2,500 Brandenburg Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
10 $1,000 Brandenburg Building fires Significant
06 How Meade County compares

Meade County vs KY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

24.3
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Meade County
24.3
KY avg
10.83
US avg
7.15
5.02
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Meade County
5.02
KY avg
1.34
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Meade County
0
KY avg
13.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Meade County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 21163.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Meade County

6 departments report from this county.

MEADE COUNTY
—
FDID 82438 96 incidents
EKRON
Ekron
FDID 82443 69 incidents 38 vol
RHODELIA
—
FDID 82440 0 incidents
WOLFE CREEK
—
FDID 82441 0 incidents
PAYNEVILLE VOLUNTEER
—
FDID 82442 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.