In 2025, fire departments serving Arcadia responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
74 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $842K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | +11.8% | |
| 2023 | 13 | -31.6% | |
| 2024 | 10 | -23.1% | |
| 2025 | 15 | +50.0% |
For the 1 building fires Arcadia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 | 12 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Office | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Technical processing areas, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 21.6% |
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 Arcadia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 67.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Arcadia departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $32,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Arcadia sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,723 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,969 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,254 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,075 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 929 | 28.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 906 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 902 | 10.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 745 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 669 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 380 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 376 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 345 | 24.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 334 | 17.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Arcadia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Arcadia.
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.