In 2025, fire departments serving Erath responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
222 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 50 | — | |
| 2023 | 67 | +34.0% | |
| 2024 | 52 | -22.4% | |
| 2025 | 44 | -15.4% |
* Well below Erath'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 5 building fires Erath departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 90 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 | 36 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 31.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 5.6% |
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 Erath mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 54 | 60.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 4.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Erath sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,850 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,154 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 836 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 700 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 308 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 200 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 162 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 161 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 111 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 93 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 82 | 49.1 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 Erath. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Erath.
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.