In 2025, fire departments serving Scott responded to 111 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Sep peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
487 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $900K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 140 | — | |
| 2023* | 56 | — | |
| 2024 | 162 | — | |
| 2025 | 111 | -31.5% |
* Well below Scott'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 9 building fires Scott departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 160 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 | 37 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 33 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 15 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 18.1% |
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 Scott mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 93 | 58.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 12 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Scott departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Scott sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,745 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,877 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,154 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 836 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 355 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 340 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 308 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 230 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 221 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 200 | 30.4 mi |
Top 9 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 Scott. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Scott.
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.