In 2025, fire departments serving Natchitoches responded to 188 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
987 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 131 | — | |
| 2022 | 170 | +29.8% | |
| 2023 | 251 | +47.6% | |
| 2024 | 247 | -1.6% | |
| 2025 | 188 | -23.9% |
For the 21 building fires Natchitoches departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 493 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 | 99 | 20.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 81 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 49 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 46 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 45 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 18 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 14 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Other | 13 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 104 | 21.1% |
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 Natchitoches mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 255 | 51.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 36 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 34 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 25 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 18 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 15 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 14 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 68 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Natchitoches departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $122,685 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $107,917 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $54,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $34,079 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Natchitoches sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 36,582 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 | 4,969 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 4,363 | 15.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,134 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 2,922 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 2,500 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,858 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,622 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,375 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,254 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 23.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,075 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 16.1 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 Natchitoches. 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.