In 2025, fire departments serving Alexandria responded to 375 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,733 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $11.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 465 | — | |
| 2022 | 631 | +35.7% | |
| 2023 | 541 | -14.3% | |
| 2024 | 721 | +33.3% | |
| 2025 | 375 | -48.0% |
For the 103 building fires Alexandria departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,565 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 | 465 | 29.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 327 | 20.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 103 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 95 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 85 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 81 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 58 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 55 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 44 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 25 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 227 | 14.5% |
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 Alexandria mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 1,008 | 64.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 186 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 68 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 57 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 51 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 37 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 28 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 18 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 78 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alexandria departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 46% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alexandria sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 47,604 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,877 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 4,363 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,134 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 2,922 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 2,500 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,858 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,633 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,375 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,295 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 33.9 mi |
Top 10 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 Alexandria. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.