In 2025, fire departments serving Westwego responded to 115 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $225K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
519 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107 | — | |
| 2022 | 110 | +2.8% | |
| 2023 | 76 | -30.9% | |
| 2024 | 111 | +46.1% | |
| 2025 | 115 | +3.6% |
For the 12 building fires Westwego departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 112 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 | 17 | 15.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 9 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 29.5% |
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 Westwego mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 67 | 59.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 10 | 8.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 5.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Westwego departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $224,527 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Westwego sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,134 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 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 1,507 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,500 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,178 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 886 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 798 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 725 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 641 | 42.9 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 Westwego. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Westwego.
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.