In 2025, fire departments serving Thibodaux responded to 164 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $160K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
May peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,200 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $8.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 353 | — | |
| 2022 | 215 | -39.1% | |
| 2023 | 221 | +2.8% | |
| 2024 | 247 | +11.8% | |
| 2025 | 164 | -33.6% |
For the 15 building fires Thibodaux departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 260 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 | 33 | 12.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 32 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 29 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 76 | 29.2% |
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 Thibodaux mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 120 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 15 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 14 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Match | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 43 | 16.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Thibodaux departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $160,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $87,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Thibodaux sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,507 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Natural | 893 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 614 | 19.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 160 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 125 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 104 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 85 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 80 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 80 | 43.4 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 Thibodaux. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Thibodaux.
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.