In 2025, fire departments serving Homer responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 80% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
112 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $263K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | -48.6% | |
| 2023 | 19 | +5.6% | |
| 2024 | 20 | +5.3% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +0.0% |
For the 3 building fires Homer departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 | Outside area, other | 13 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Function area, other | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 13.3% |
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 Homer mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 45.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Homer departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Homer sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,503 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 929 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 902 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 745 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 727 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 669 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 506 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 376 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 345 | 24.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 334 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 309 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 45.6 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71040 | 112 |
Six Louisiana cities with population within ±25% of Homer. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Homer.
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.