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2025 County Report

Fires in Mercer County, KY

In 2025, fire departments serving Mercer County responded to 157 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $75K property loss.

10,359 residents FIPS 21167 21 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
157
1,007 across 5 years
Building fires
15
18 wildland
Property loss
$269K
$196K structure · $73K 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 61% of all calls.

157
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 50 31.8%
Building fires 15 9.6%
Power line down 12 7.6%
Passenger vehicle fire 11 7.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 8 5.1%
All other categories 61 38.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Mercer County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 14
Feb 9
Mar 26
Apr 20
May 7
Jun 16
Jul 17
Aug 12
Sep 5
Oct 11
Nov 7
Dec 13
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Mercer County

1,007 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 207
2022 183
2023 222
2024 238
2025 157
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 15 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
46%
31
Cause undetermined
12%
8
Intentional / arson
22%
15
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
10
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $196K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $75,000 Harrodsburg Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
2 $50,000 Harrodsburg Building fires Significant
3 $25,000 Harrodsburg Building fires Significant
4 $20,000 Harrodsburg Building fires Significant
5 $10,000 Harrodsburg Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
6 $5,000 Harrodsburg Building fires Significant
7 $5,000 Salvisa Building fires Significant
8 $4,000 Harrodsburg Building fires Significant
9 $1,000 Harrodsburg Building fires Significant
10 $700 Harrodsburg Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
06 How Mercer County compares

Mercer County vs KY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

15.16
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Mercer County
15.16
KY avg
10.83
US avg
7.15
1.45
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Mercer County
1.45
KY avg
1.34
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Mercer County
0
KY avg
13.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Mercer County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 21167.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Mercer County

3 departments report from this county.

HARRODSBURG
—
FDID 84446 103 incidents
Mercer Co Fire Protection Dist
Harrodsburg
FDID 84980 53 incidents 1 paid
BURGIN
—
FDID 84445 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.