In 2025, fire departments serving Port Barre responded to 55 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
183 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $450K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 51 | — | |
| 2024 | 68 | +33.3% | |
| 2025 | 55 | -19.1% |
* Well below Port Barre'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 4 building fires Port Barre departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 106 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 | 26 | 24.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 12 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 10 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 15.1% |
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 Port Barre mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 60 | 56.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 11.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Port Barre departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,500 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Port Barre sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,062 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,877 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,295 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,071 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 465 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 368 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 355 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 340 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 44.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Port Barre. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Port Barre.
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.