In 2025, fire departments serving Louisa responded to 162 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $18K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
563 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 125 | — | |
| 2023 | 111 | -11.2% | |
| 2024 | 151 | +36.0% | |
| 2025 | 162 | +7.3% |
* Well below Louisa'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 11 building fires Louisa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 115 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 | 35 | 30.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 34 | 29.6% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 11.3% |
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 Louisa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 67 | 58.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Louisa departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $18,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Louisa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 65,495 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 16,021 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,326 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,131 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,505 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,200 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,717 | 49.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,206 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,614 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,579 | 39.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,431 | 44.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 1,150 | 44.6 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 Louisa. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Louisa.
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.