In 2025, fire departments serving Blanchard responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
119 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | — | |
| 2023 | 29 | +31.8% | |
| 2024 | 33 | +13.8% | |
| 2025 | 25 | -24.2% |
* Well below Blanchard'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 Blanchard departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 | 12 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Sales area, showroom (exclude display window) | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Technical processing areas, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 8.1% |
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 Blanchard mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 43.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 8.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blanchard sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 57,680 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41,050 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,378 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,036 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,465 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,299 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,048 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 902 | 23.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 850 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 727 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 669 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 557 | 20.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 452 | 14.8 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 Blanchard. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.