In 2025, fire departments serving Gretna responded to 125 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
910 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 172 | — | |
| 2022 | 180 | +4.7% | |
| 2023 | 246 | +36.7% | |
| 2024 | 187 | -24.0% | |
| 2025 | 125 | -33.2% |
For the 20 building fires Gretna departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 271 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 | 59 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 44 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 21 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 10 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 75 | 27.7% |
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 Gretna mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 164 | 60.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 14 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gretna departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $18,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gretna sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,758 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,708 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,922 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 1,507 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,500 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,178 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,078 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 886 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 857 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 30.7 mi |
Top 4 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 Gretna. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gretna.
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.