In 2025, fire departments serving Plaquemine responded to 115 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
873 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $4.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 224 | — | |
| 2022 | 168 | -25.0% | |
| 2023 | 217 | +29.2% | |
| 2024 | 149 | -31.3% | |
| 2025 | 115 | -22.8% |
For the 10 building fires Plaquemine departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 305 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 | 54 | 17.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 38 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 29 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 23 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 20 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 14 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 83 | 27.2% |
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 Plaquemine mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 109 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 37 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 33 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 49 | 16.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Plaquemine departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $212,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $12,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Plaquemine sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,660 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 230 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 200 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 192 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 160 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 136 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 125 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 39.6 mi |
Top 4 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 Plaquemine. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Plaquemine.
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.