In 2025, fire departments serving Jackson responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 100% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
60 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $480K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022* | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | 15 | — | |
| 2024 | 24 | +60.0% | |
| 2025 | 11 | -54.2% |
* Well below Jackson'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 7 building fires Jackson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | 13 | 56.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 4.3% |
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 Jackson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 69.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Jackson departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jackson sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,600 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 4,110 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 570 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 491 | 31.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 453 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 408 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 365 | 37.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 360 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 344 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 38.4 mi |
Top 3 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 Jackson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.