BlockBefore

Fisty, Kentucky

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Emmalena census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41701. It lies near Shop Hollow. The Survey maps it on the Carrie quadrangle. It stands 902 feet above sea level.

Fisty within Knott County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 16 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

485 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 485 fires within 5 miles of Fisty between 1997 and 2020, burning about 16,464 acres in total. None started naturally. 95 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning217
Missing data/not specified/undetermined126
Arson/incendiarism95
Recreation and ceremony39
Equipment and vehicle use4
Smoking2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
3 September 2007Debris and open burning5.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
3 September 1999Arson/incendiarism25 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
29 September 2007Debris and open burning1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
28 September 2007Debris and open burning148 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
28 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined35 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
24 September 2008Debris and open burning8.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
2 September 1999Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Knott County

Storms near this place

7 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fisty in 7 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 3 flash flood, 2 hail, 1 debris flow, 1 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 16 deaths. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2022Flash FloodFisty16 killedExtensive flash flooding occurred in Knott County. Some of the reports included:||11:00 PM EST - Pictures on social media show flash flooding around the Big Branch Baptist Church. |11:56 PM EST - Broadcast media reported street flash flooding leaving KY-899 impassable in front of the Holly Hills Shopping Center. |12:38 AM EST - 4 children, ranging from 1 to 8 years old, perished in the flood waters of Montgomery and Troublesome Creeks after being swept away from their parents. Numerous news articles state that the family was awoken by the flash flood warning around 2:00 AM EDT (1:00 AM EST). The Considerable Tag that set off the WEA alerts as sent out at 1:38 AM EDT (12:38 AM EST), so this is likely what awakened the parents. The reports go on to state that it was a matter of minutes before the family was forced to escape to the roof of their mobile home once water started pouring in. They were not on the roof very long before they realized the mobile home was not stable, and they swam to a nearby tree. Strong currents in the water ripped the children away from the parent's grasp. It was around 8 hours before the parents were rescued. 2 of the 4 children were found deceased on Thursday (7/28). The other two were found deceased on Friday morning (7/29)|12:48 AM EST - A portion of Route 899 was flooded near the IGA store in Hindman.|1:00 AM EST - Pictures on social media show debris and rocks littered onto KY-1231 due to flash flooding.|1:30 AM EST - A house was destroyed and carried onto Steer Fork Road and KY-582 by flash flood waters.|2:00 AM EST - A fire truck from the Hindman Volunteer Fire Department was swept away and pinned underneath the Cowtown Road Bridge over Troublesome Creek.|2:00 AM EST - Picture on social media shows a car pinned under the pedestrian bridge in front of Alice Lloyd College after being swept away in the flood waters.|2:00 AM EST - Catastrophic flash flooding in the city of Hindman.|2:00 AM EST - Picture on social media shows the Hidden Treasure Shop along East Main Street (KY-550) in Hindman severely damaged by flash flood waters from Troublesome Creek. |2:00 AM EST - Homes on the lower side of KY-550 in the community of Fisty have been swept away by flash flooding along Troublesome Creek. |2:00 AM EST - Patriot Dairy Bar has been destroyed by flash flooding.|2:22 AM EST - A video on social media shows the Pine Top Post Office was 2/3 submerged by significant flash flood waters along Carr Fork. |2:27 AM EST - Highway 582 is flooded. Water is 3/4 of the way up the post office building at Pine Top. |2:30 AM EST - Camp Nathanael sustained significant damage to several structures in the community of Emmalena. |2:44 AM EST - Multiple cars were submerged and a house surrounded by water in the community of Emmalena. |8:00 AM EST - The cooperative observer located 1 mile East of Wiscoal reported a 24-hour total rainfall of 6.50 inches.
August 2014Flash FloodFisty$234,000Over three inches of rainfall from slow moving thunderstorms produced flash flooding across the county. Troublesome Creek was reported out of its banks from Hindman to Carrie, six inches of flowing water was reported over Highway 80, flooding at the junction of Highway 550 and 160 made the roads impassable, flood waters surrounded a house in Garner, the Hazard Community & Technical School campus was flooded in Hindman, and water was reported over the bumper of an SUV between Leburn and Hindman.
May 2020Flash FloodFisty$20,000Local media relayed a report of water inundating residences on Clear Creek near Fisty.
May 2025HailFisty-A picture on social media showed hail accumulation on the ground in the community of Fisty. Stones between a quarter and half-dollar size were visible in the grass.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindFisty-Trees were downed onto KY-550 near the Perry County line.
March 2021Debris FlowFisty-Part of KY-2102 is closed due to a mudslide which is blocking the road.
June 2003HailFisty-Three quarter inch diameter hail was reported from a person at Clear Creek Free Church.

Every storm recorded in Knott County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Emmalena1.4 miles16
Ritchie1.8 miles16
Big Branch (historical)2.7 miles16
Bearville3.0 miles16
Clear Fork (historical)3.6 miles16
Carrie3.7 miles16
Cordia3.8 miles16
Lotts Creek (historical)4.4 miles16

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on FistyAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q8563447The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 508000. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.