In 2025, fire departments serving Rayville responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
241 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.6M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | — | |
| 2022 | 38 | -19.1% | |
| 2023 | 56 | +47.4% | |
| 2024 | 67 | +19.6% | |
| 2025 | 33 | -50.7% |
For the 3 building fires Rayville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 92 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 25.0% |
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 Rayville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 43.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 14.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rayville departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rayville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,531 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,669 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,806 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 1,806 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 632 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Smoking | 325 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 295 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 274 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 214 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 5.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 186 | 7.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 185 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 178 | 42.6 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71269 | 241 |
Six Louisiana cities with population within ±25% of Rayville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rayville.
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.