In 2025, fire departments serving Golden Meadow responded to 34 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3.0M 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 79% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
170 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 19 | — | |
| 2022* | 12 | — | |
| 2023 | 43 | — | |
| 2024 | 62 | +44.2% | |
| 2025 | 34 | -45.2% |
* Well below Golden Meadow'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 1 building fires Golden Meadow departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | 11 | 28.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 17.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 2.6% |
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 Golden Meadow mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 53.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Golden Meadow departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,000,000 | Water vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Golden Meadow sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 10 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,824 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 614 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 70 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 19 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 16 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 | 38.9 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 Golden Meadow. 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.