In 2025, fire departments serving Paradis responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $12K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
51 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $28K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023* | 3 | — | |
| 2024 | 19 | — | |
| 2025 | 18 | -5.3% |
* Well below Paradis'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 0 building fires Paradis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 5.3% |
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 Paradis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 68.4% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Paradis departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Paradis sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,883 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 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,500 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 725 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 614 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 570 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 520 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 424 | 41.5 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 Paradis. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Paradis.
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.