In 2025, fire departments serving Paulina responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $180K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Paulina's departments reported 10 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 23 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
113 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $243K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | -44.7% | |
| 2023 | 25 | +19.0% | |
| 2024 | 19 | -24.0% | |
| 2025* | 10 | — |
* Well below Paulina'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 2 building fires Paulina departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 71 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 | 27 | 38.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 18.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 9.9% |
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 Paulina mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 46.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Match | 6 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Paulina departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Paulina sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,034 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 1,500 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 725 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 614 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 424 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 279 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 279 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 263 | 48.6 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 Paulina. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Paulina.
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.