In 2025, fire departments serving Reserve responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $18K 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 66% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
344 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 86 | — | |
| 2022 | 71 | -17.4% | |
| 2023 | 61 | -14.1% | |
| 2024 | 76 | +24.6% | |
| 2025 | 50 | -34.2% |
For the 4 building fires Reserve departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 | 26 | 32.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Conveyor | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 19.0% |
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 Reserve mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 60 | 75.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Warning or road flare; fusee | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Reserve departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $17,632 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,723 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Reserve sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,331 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,922 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,500 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 725 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 641 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 614 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 600 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 570 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 41.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 520 | 42.1 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 | 70084 | 344 |
Six Louisiana cities with population within ±25% of Reserve. 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.