In 2025, fire departments serving Laplace responded to 185 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $208K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,201 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $7.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 270 | — | |
| 2022 | 237 | -12.2% | |
| 2023 | 239 | +0.8% | |
| 2024 | 270 | +13.0% | |
| 2025 | 185 | -31.5% |
For the 18 building fires Laplace departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 308 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 | 80 | 26.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 63 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 39 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 18 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 17 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 11 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 10 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 15.6% |
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 Laplace mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 190 | 61.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 26 | 8.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 22 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 6.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Laplace departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $207,583 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $160,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $124,660 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $124,660 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $122,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $55,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $31,910 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Laplace sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,522 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 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,500 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 725 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 641 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 614 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 600 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 570 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 37.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 520 | 37.6 mi |
Top 2 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 Laplace. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Laplace.
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.