In 2025, fire departments serving Gretna responded to 143 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
770 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $800K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 186 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | -19.4% | |
| 2023 | 132 | -12.0% | |
| 2024 | 159 | +20.5% | |
| 2025 | 143 | -10.1% |
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 197 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 | 60 | 30.5% | |
| 2 | Other | 20 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 15 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 24.4% |
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 | 104 | 52.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 14 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Match | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 6.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gretna departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | 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. 29,113 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,990 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 3,696 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 2,935 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,871 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,676 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,550 | 38.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,349 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,285 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,146 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 1,140 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,036 | 9.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 850 | 41.8 mi |
Top 7 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Virginia 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.