In 2025, fire departments serving Gretna responded to 87 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K 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 61% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
328 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 77 | — | |
| 2023 | 71 | -7.8% | |
| 2024 | 73 | +2.8% | |
| 2025 | 87 | +19.2% |
* Well below Gretna'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 2 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 90 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 31 | 34.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Vacant structural area | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 17.8% |
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 Gretna mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 55.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gretna departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $600,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $33,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $29,890 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gretna sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,287 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 715 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Smoking | 700 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 443 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 300 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 280 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 240 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Smoking | 220 | 32.6 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Nebraska cities with population within ±25% of Gretna. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 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.