In 2025, fire departments serving Denham Springs responded to 487 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,475 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $17.0M cumulative property loss. 8 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 577 | — | |
| 2022 | 665 | +15.3% | |
| 2023 | 1,125 | +69.2% | |
| 2024 | 621 | -44.8% | |
| 2025 | 487 | -21.6% |
For the 61 building fires Denham Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,882 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 496 | 26.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 397 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 295 | 15.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 114 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 92 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 70 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 37 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Other | 36 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 25 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 23 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 297 | 15.8% |
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 Denham Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 1,009 | 53.6% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 149 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 100 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 55 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 54 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 53 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 51 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 49 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 48 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 46 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 268 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Denham Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 63% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Denham Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
50 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,136 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 570 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 32.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 260 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 258 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 235 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 230 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 200 | 43.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 29.1 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 Denham Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Denham Springs.
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.