In 2025, fire departments serving Zwolle responded to 65 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
367 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022 | 98 | +58.1% | |
| 2023 | 91 | -7.1% | |
| 2024 | 51 | -44.0% | |
| 2025 | 65 | +27.5% |
For the 6 building fires Zwolle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 291 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 | 174 | 59.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 31 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 3 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 5.8% |
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 Zwolle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 272 | 93.5% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 0.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 0.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 0.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 0.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Zwolle sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,167 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 | 4,969 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 4,363 | 38.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,134 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 2,500 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,858 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,254 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 35.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 906 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 874 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 800 | 46.5 mi |
Top 2 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 Zwolle. 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.