In 2025, fire departments serving Leesville responded to 251 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 46% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,588 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.4M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 289 | — | |
| 2022 | 368 | +27.3% | |
| 2023 | 288 | -21.7% | |
| 2024 | 392 | +36.1% | |
| 2025 | 251 | -36.0% |
For the 33 building fires Leesville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 506 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 | 92 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 84 | 16.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 56 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 54 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 51 | 10.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 33 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 19 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 16 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Other | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 84 | 16.6% |
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 Leesville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 287 | 56.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 46 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 28 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 22 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 17 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 13 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 10 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 51 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leesville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leesville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
17 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 64,117 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 15,864 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,877 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 4,363 | 30.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,134 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 2,922 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 2,852 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 2,500 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,858 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,633 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,178 | 35.6 mi |
Top 6 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 Leesville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Leesville.
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.