Home› Counties› LA› Orleans Parish
2025 County Report

Fires in Orleans Parish, LA

In 2025, fire departments serving Orleans Parish responded to 2,087 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $3.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

380,408 residents FIPS 22071 4 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
2,087
15,539 across 5 years
Building fires
161
78 wildland
Property loss
$22.8M
$19.6M structure · $3.2M contents
Casualties
0 / 16
0 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 14 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.

2,087
Total Incidents
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 324 15.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 262 12.6%
Building fires 161 7.7%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 151 7.2%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 128 6.1%
All other categories 1,061 50.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Orleans Parish?

Jan peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 353
Feb 245
Mar 237
Apr 178
May 215
Jun 197
Jul 178
Aug 191
Sep 292
Oct 1
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Orleans Parish

15,539 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 3,342
2022 3,412
2023 3,448
2024 3,250
2025 2,087
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 161 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
42%
177
Cause undetermined
26%
107
Intentional / arson
8%
34
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
60
Under investigation
5%
21
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
5
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $11.8M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Orleans Parish during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 60% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $3,504,780 NEW ORLEANS Building fires Major
2 $3,500,000 New Orleans Aircraft standby Major
3 $2,079,750 NEW ORLEANS Building fires Major
4 $590,000 NEW ORLEANS Building fires Major
5 $520,000 NEW ORLEANS Passenger vehicle fire Major
6 $465,000 NEW ORLEANS Building fires Major
7 $373,900 NEW ORLEANS Building fires Major
8 $340,000 NEW ORLEANS Building fires Major
9 $252,800 NEW ORLEANS Building fires Major
10 $210,000 NEW ORLEANS Building fires Significant
06 How Orleans Parish compares

Orleans Parish vs LA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

5.49
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Orleans Parish
5.49
LA avg
9.63
US avg
7.15
0.42
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Orleans Parish
0.42
LA avg
1.29
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Orleans Parish
0
LA avg
15.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Orleans Parish

4 cities mapped to FIPS 22071.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Orleans Parish

3 departments report from this county.

NEW ORLEANS FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 36001 2,130 incidents 726 paid
NEW ORLEANS LAKE FRONT AP FD
New Orleans
FDID 36005 11 incidents 7 paid
FORT PIKE VFD
—
FDID 36020 0 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in LA

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Cinnamon Teal Fire 2014 FWS 11,235
2 Pintail Fire 2014 FWS 8,889
3 Sac a Lait 2019 FWS 7,445
4 Wilderness 1987 USFS 7,089
5 LEONARD FIRE 2013 FWS 6,396
6 Cottonmouth 2016 FWS 6,389
7 CICADA 2010 FWS 6,270
8 Threat 1 2016 PRI 5,370
9 Wrangler 2010 USFS 4,363
10 Anole 2016 FWS 3,563

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.