In 2025, fire departments serving Vivian responded to 66 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K 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 55% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
235 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $652K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 49 | +36.1% | |
| 2023 | 35 | -28.6% | |
| 2024 | 49 | +40.0% | |
| 2025 | 66 | +34.7% |
For the 7 building fires Vivian departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 61 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 | 16 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 16.4% |
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 Vivian mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 29 | 47.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Vivian departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vivian sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 60,103 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 | 41,050 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,378 | 7.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,324 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,036 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,465 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,299 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,048 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 902 | 4.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 850 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 740 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 727 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 557 | 34.6 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 | 71082 | 235 |
Six Louisiana cities with population within ±25% of Vivian. 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.