In 2025, fire departments serving Broussard responded to 155 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $840K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
750 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 138 | — | |
| 2022 | 168 | +21.7% | |
| 2023 | 118 | -29.8% | |
| 2024 | 171 | +44.9% | |
| 2025 | 155 | -9.4% |
For the 28 building fires Broussard departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 154 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 32 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 24 | 15.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 13 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 18.2% |
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 Broussard mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 79 | 51.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 14.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Broussard departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $840,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Broussard 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,954 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 308 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 200 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 134 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 93 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 82 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 82 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 75 | 9.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 68 | 38.6 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 Broussard. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Broussard.
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.