Van, Kentucky
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Blackey census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41845. It stands on Hollybush Branch. The Survey maps it on the Mayking quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 17 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1890 USGS Whitesburg quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Whitesburg quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1913 USGS Oven Fork quadrangle1:48000
- 1915 USGS Whitesburg quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1954 USGS Mayking quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1977 USGS Pikeville quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Mayking quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
232 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 232 fires within 5 miles of Van between 1997 and 2020, burning about 8,683 acres in total. None started naturally. 26 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 burning | 113 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 64 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 26 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 23 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 80 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 8 September 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | CARBON GLOW |
| 8 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 4 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 25 September 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | WHITCO HIL |
| 22 September 2001 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 19 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 24 August 2012 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | COWAN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
6 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Van in 6 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 3 flash flood, 3 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2025 | Flood | Van | - | Picture on social media showed minor flooding at the mouth of Smoot Creek Road behind the Action Auto, just north of Van, due to a plugged culvert. |
| January 2013 | Flood | Van | - | Highway 1811 was affected by flood waters near the intersection with Hwy 15. |
| February 2011 | Flood | Van | - | Several roads were impacted by flooding. Bee Tree Branch, Long Branch, and Star Roads were closed. |
| April 2007 | Flash Flood | Van | - | Smoot Creek Road closed. |
| February 2003 | Flash Flood | Van | - | Smoot Creek Road was under water at the intersection of Kentucky Highway 15 and Kentucky Highway 160. |
| May 2004 | Flash Flood | Van | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoot Creek (historical) | 1.3 miles | 17 | |
| Crown | 1.7 miles | 17 | |
| Tillie | 2.1 miles | 17 | |
| Little Colly (historical) | 2.3 miles | 17 | |
| Whitco | 2.5 miles | 18 | |
| Marlowe | 2.7 miles | 17 | |
| Bellcraft | 2.8 miles | 17 | |
| Hot Spot | 2.8 miles | 18 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 509270. 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.








