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2025 County Report

Fires in Shelby County, KY

In 2025, fire departments serving Shelby County responded to 360 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $50K property loss.

20,215 residents FIPS 21211 34 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
360
1,058 across 5 years
Building fires
37
13 wildland
Property loss
$174K
$133K structure · $41K 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 54% of all calls.

360
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 61 16.9%
Building fires 37 10.3%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 35 9.7%
Power line down 33 9.2%
Unauthorized burning 27 7.5%
All other categories 167 46.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Shelby County?

Apr peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 29
Feb 28
Mar 42
Apr 45
May 45
Jun 17
Jul 32
Aug 34
Sep 37
Oct 29
Nov 11
Dec 11
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Shelby County

1,058 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 141
2022 119
2023 260
2024 178
2025 360
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 37 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
67%
48
Cause undetermined
11%
8
Intentional / arson
1%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
6
Under investigation
6%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
7%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $133K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $50,000 Simpsonville Building fires Significant
2 $30,000 Shelbyville Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
3 $15,000 Shelbyville Building fires Significant
4 $10,000 Shelbyville Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
5 $10,000 Waddy Building fires Significant
6 $8,000 BAGDAD Building fires Significant
7 $5,000 SHELBYVILLE Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $3,000 Bagdad Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
9 $1,000 Shelbyville Fire, other Significant
10 $1,000 Simpsonville Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
06 How Shelby County compares

Shelby County vs KY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

17.81
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Shelby County
17.81
KY avg
10.83
US avg
7.15
1.83
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Shelby County
1.83
KY avg
1.34
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Shelby County
0
KY avg
13.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Shelby County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 21211.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Shelby County

5 departments report from this county.

SIMPSONVILLE
—
FDID A5549 32 incidents
Wilmore Fire Department
WILMORE
FDID 57305 22 incidents 2 paid 1 vol
BAGDAD
BAGDAD
FDID A5545 11 incidents
EAST 60
Waddy
FDID A5546 0 incidents 18 vol
Waddy Fire Protection District
Waddy
FDID A5550 0 incidents 20 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.