In 2025, fire departments serving Harvey responded to 285 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K 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 53% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,407 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 193 | — | |
| 2022 | 198 | +2.6% | |
| 2023 | 405 | +104.5% | |
| 2024 | 326 | -19.5% | |
| 2025 | 285 | -12.6% |
For the 44 building fires Harvey departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 292 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 63 | 21.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 47 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 35 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 16 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 14 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 70 | 24.0% |
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 Harvey mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 129 | 44.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 42 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 36 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 28 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Harvey departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 83% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Harvey sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,082 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,922 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 1,507 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,500 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,178 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,078 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 886 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 798 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 755 | 49.7 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 Harvey. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Harvey.
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.