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2025 County Report

Fires in Lafayette Parish, LA

In 2025, fire departments serving Lafayette Parish responded to 1,126 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $840K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

175,928 residents FIPS 22055 21 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
1,126
6,306 across 5 years
Building fires
171
115 wildland
Property loss
$9.3M
$6.7M structure · $2.6M contents
Casualties
2 / 15
2 civ deaths · 3 civ inj · 12 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.

1,126
Total Incidents
Building fires 171 15.2%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 138 12.3%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 88 7.8%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 84 7.5%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 80 7.1%
All other categories 565 50.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lafayette Parish?

Jan peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 206
Feb 169
Mar 172
Apr 156
May 109
Jun 120
Jul 28
Aug 35
Sep 44
Oct 38
Nov 32
Dec 17
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lafayette Parish

6,306 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 756
2022 1,070
2023 1,329
2024 2,025
2025 1,126
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 171 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
36%
110
Cause undetermined
24%
72
Intentional / arson
21%
64
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
29
Under investigation
6%
17
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
6
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.5M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lafayette Parish during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 52% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $840,000 BROUSSARD Building fires Major
2 $820,000 Lafayette Building fires Major
3 $280,000 Duson Building fires Major
4 $250,000 Scott Building fires Major
5 $250,000 Broussard Building fires Major
6 $250,000 Lafayette Building fires Major
7 $200,000 Broussard Building fires Significant
8 $200,000 LAF PARISH Building fires Significant
9 $200,000 Downtown Lafayette L Building fires Significant
10 $200,000 LAFAYETTE Building fires Significant
06 How Lafayette Parish compares

Lafayette Parish vs LA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.4
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lafayette Parish
6.4
LA avg
9.63
US avg
7.15
0.97
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lafayette Parish
0.97
LA avg
1.29
US avg
0.82
11.4
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lafayette Parish
11.4
LA avg
15.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lafayette Parish

12 cities mapped to FIPS 22055.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lafayette Parish

9 departments report from this county.

LAFAYETTE FD
LAFAYETTE
FDID 28020 574 incidents 225 paid
SCOTT VFD
SCOTT
FDID 28035 216 incidents 4 paid 28 vol
Broussard Fire Dept
Broussard
FDID 28001 157 incidents 31 vol
YOUNGSVILLE VFD
Youngsville
FDID 28040 76 incidents 15 vol
JUDICE VFD
—
FDID 28015 52 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in LA

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Cinnamon Teal Fire 2014 FWS 11,235
2 Pintail Fire 2014 FWS 8,889
3 Sac a Lait 2019 FWS 7,445
4 Wilderness 1987 USFS 7,089
5 LEONARD FIRE 2013 FWS 6,396
6 Cottonmouth 2016 FWS 6,389
7 CICADA 2010 FWS 6,270
8 Threat 1 2016 PRI 5,370
9 Wrangler 2010 USFS 4,363
10 Anole 2016 FWS 3,563

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.