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2025 State Fire Report

Fires in Louisiana

In 2025, fire departments across Louisiana responded to 29,077 fire and hazmat incidents — including the Cinnamon Teal Fire wildfire that burned 11,236 acres in 2014.

3,019,382 residents 64 counties 2,204 reporting cities 5 active

National context

Where Louisiana sits

Louisiana ranks #22 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.

<100k100k+1M+5M+15M+ None on record

Total acres burned (NIFC perimeter history)

Total incidents

29,077

174,990 across 5 years

Building fires

3,910

13.4% of all incidents

Wildland fires

4,548

10 historical perimeters on record

Casualties

47 / 165

47 civ deaths · 84 civ inj · 81 ff inj

01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen in Louisiana?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 44% of all calls.

29,077

Total Incidents

Building fires 3,910 13.4%

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3,245 11.2%

Grass fire 2,042 7.0%

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1,878 6.5%

Passenger vehicle fire 1,715 5.9%

All other categories 16,287 56.0%

02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Mar peaks. Dec dips. (Latest year: 2025.)

Jan 3,622

Feb 2,991

Mar 3,869

Apr 2,890

May 2,628

Jun 2,283

Jul 2,441

Aug 2,134

Sep 2,318

Oct 1,711

Nov 1,265

Dec 925

03 Smoothed seasonality

Average monthly fires 2021–2025

5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Sep peaks across the window; Dec dips.

Jan 15,966

Feb 15,377

Mar 16,085

Apr 13,583

May 13,191

Jun 13,411

Jul 13,295

Aug 16,676

Sep 17,687

Oct 16,113

Nov 12,173

Dec 11,433

04 Five-year trend

Year over year in Louisiana

174,990 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.

Year	Incidents
2021	29,788
2022	32,488
2023	42,657
2024	40,980
2025	29,077

05 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires in Louisiana?

For the 3,910 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional

40%

4,496

Cause undetermined

24%

2,644

Intentional / arson

14%

1,576

Equipment / heat source failure

798

Under investigation

10%

1,068

Act of nature (lightning)

338

5b Causes by category

Top ignition causes in Louisiana

Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.

#	Cause	Incidents	FOD vs NFIRS	Acres
1	Undetermined / missing	31,684	11,041 / 20,643	192,654
2	Arson / incendiarism	19,164	8,784 / 10,380	155,674
3	Equipment & vehicle use	5,724	887 / 4,837	11,773
4	Debris & open burning	5,354	5,354 / 0	79,691
5	Natural (lightning)	4,722	3,001 / 1,721	243,125
6	Other causes	1,648	68 / 1,580	260
7	Recreation & ceremony	1,377	1,377 / 0	16,410
8	Railroad operations	1,004	1,004 / 0	9,229
9	Smoking	887	887 / 0	10,274
10	Power generation / utility	355	355 / 0	3,120
11	Misuse of fire by a minor	232	232 / 0	2,654
12	Fireworks	97	97 / 0	1,258

5c Topics

Cross-cutting fire topics in Louisiana

Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.

#	Topic	Incidents	Loss	Deaths
1	Outdoor fires	48,504	$4.8M	2
2	Building fires	35,758	$1.6B	161
3	Electrical / wiring	29,058	$1.1M	0
4	Wildland fires	28,163	$3.6M	2
5	Gas leaks	24,392	$900.1M	0
6	Rubbish / refuse	18,465	$1.6M	0
7	Vehicle fires	14,546	$161.2M	44
8	Cooking-related	4,340	$1.2M	0
9	Arson	2,538	$7.6M	5

06 The biggest fires

10 fires · $22.5M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 13% of Louisiana's total.

#	Property loss	City	Type	Severity
1	$3,504,780	NEW ORLEANS	Building fires	Major
2	$3,500,000	New Orleans	Aircraft standby	Major
3	$3,000,000	Golden Meadow	Water vehicle fire	Major
4	$2,800,000	Ferriday	Building fires	Major
5	$2,500,000	Ferriday	Building fires	Major
6	$2,079,750	NEW ORLEANS	Building fires	Major
7	$1,500,000	PORT ALLEN	Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other	Major
8	$1,366,925	Choudrant	Building fires	Major
9	$1,245,100	PARISH	Building fires	Major
10	$1,000,000	LAKE CHARLES	Building fires	Major

07 How Louisiana compares

Louisiana vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare Louisiana apples-to-apples to the national average.

9.63

Incidents per 1,000 residents

9.63

US avg

7.48

1.29

Building fires per 1,000 residents

1.29

US avg

0.85

15.6

Civilian fire deaths per million

15.6

US avg

5.9

08 Cities

Top cities in Louisiana

12 largest reporting cities by population.

New Orleans B

2,091 incidents 156 building $19.5M loss

Baton Rouge B

1,873 incidents 301 building $15.7M loss

Shreveport B-

2,046 incidents 318 building $3.8M loss

Metairie B+

774 incidents 77 building $6.0M loss

Lafayette B+

609 incidents 78 building $3.4M loss

Lake Charles C+

1,160 incidents 109 building $7.7M loss

Kenner B+

400 incidents 35 building $2.2M loss

Bossier City A-

359 incidents 28 building $1.3M loss

Monroe C+

656 incidents 85 building $4.5M loss

Alexandria B-

375 incidents 103 building $2.1M loss

Prairieville B+

201 incidents 24 building $1.1M loss

Houma C

492 incidents 64 building $1.6M loss

09 Counties

Top counties in Louisiana

Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.

#	County	Incidents	Population
1	Jefferson Parish	2,844	417,063
2	Caddo Parish	2,772	199,525
3	East Baton Rouge Parish	2,624	370,727
4	Orleans Parish	2,087	380,408
5	Calcasieu Parish	2,015	144,751
6	Ouachita Parish	1,430	93,683
7	Lafayette Parish	1,126	175,928
8	St. Tammany Parish	952	76,840
9	Rapides Parish	932	72,346
10	Livingston Parish	839	23,695

10 Per-capita

Highest fire rates by county

Top 10 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.

#	County	Inc / 1k	Incidents	Population
1	Ouachita Parish	15.26	1,430	93,683
2	Calcasieu Parish	13.92	2,015	144,751
3	Caddo Parish	13.89	2,772	199,525
4	Rapides Parish	12.88	932	72,346
5	St. Tammany Parish	12.39	952	76,840
6	Ascension Parish	12.03	675	56,088
7	Terrebonne Parish	8.48	632	74,504
8	Bossier Parish	8.17	674	82,466
9	East Baton Rouge Parish	7.08	2,624	370,727
10	Jefferson Parish	6.82	2,844	417,063

11 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Louisiana

By incident count in 2025.

NEW ORLEANS FIRE DEPT

—

FDID 36001 2,130 incidents 726 paid

SHREVEPORT FD

—

FDID 09060 1,945 incidents

BATON ROUGE FIRE DEPT

—

FDID 17005 1,349 incidents

OUACHITA FIRE PRO DIST 1

—

FDID 37010 1,027 incidents

JEFFERSON E BANK CONS FD

Jefferson

FDID 26001 970 incidents 245 paid

12 Largest fires on record

Top 10 wildfires in Louisiana history

By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.

#	Name	Year	Agency	Acres
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

13 Decade by decade

Wildfire perimeters in Louisiana, by decade

305 perimeters and 127,603 acres recorded since 1900.

Decade	Fires	Acres
1980s	2	7,114
1990s	6	249
2000s	16	3,449
2010s	179	100,629
2020s	102	16,162

14 Cause shift over time

How wildfire causes have shifted in Louisiana

FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.

Decade	Total fires	Share by cause
1990s	7,053
2000s	16,421
2010s	9,274
2020s	381

Missing data/not specified/undetermined Arson/incendiarism Debris and open burning Natural Recreation and ceremony Railroad operations and maintenance Equipment and vehicle use Other

15 Wildfire seasonality

When wildfires ignite in Louisiana

FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 33,129 ignitions total.

Jan 3,301

Feb 4,162

Mar 5,042

Apr 2,227

May 2,028

Jun 1,844

Jul 1,854

Aug 2,738

Sep 3,350

Oct 3,407

Nov 1,772

Dec 1,404

16 Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Louisiana

951 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.

Age	Count
0-9	38
10-19	45
20-29	156
30-39	136
40-49	104
50-59	108
60-69	70
70-79	32
80+	29

Civilian vs firefighter

Civilian 623 FF 328

Gender

M 711 F 240 Unk 0

Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)

245

193

131

118

229

About this data

State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.