In 2025, fire departments serving Albany responded to 64 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $90K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Trash or rubbish fire, contained lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
202 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $613K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023* | 11 | — | |
| 2024 | 122 | — | |
| 2025 | 64 | -47.5% |
* Well below Albany's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 7 building fires Albany departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 114 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 27.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 21 | 18.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 13.2% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Albany mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 55 | 48.2% | |
| 2 | Match | 24 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Albany departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $600 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Albany sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,385 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,922 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,500 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 725 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 641 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 600 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 570 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 37.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 520 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 32.6 mi |
Top 6 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Louisiana cities with population within ±25% of Albany. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Albany.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.