Louisiana wildfires

Are wildfire records common in Louisiana?

Louisiana averages about 3.9 wildfire records a year since 2000, 34th of 48 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2011 (9). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Louisiana records 6.2 wildfire records since 1996, 33rd of 48 states and territories by that measure.

1. 1. Hawaii 441
2. 2. New Jersey 241
3. 3. Puerto Rico 137
4. 4. California 102
5. 5. Florida 91
6. 6. Oklahoma 88
7. 7. Delaware 87
8. 8. Washington 82
9. 9. Oregon 77
10. 10. Colorado 64
11. 33. Louisiana 6.2

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Louisiana have the most wildfire records?

Per square mile, Caddo Parish leads Louisiana: 3 days with a wildfire record since 1996, 3.4 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Caddo Parish has the most wildfire records (4 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

1. Caddo Parish 3.4 (4)
2. Natchitoches Parish 3.2 (4)
3. Red River Parish 2.6 (1)
4. Bienville Parish 2.5 (2)
5. Sabine Parish 2.3 (2)
6. De Soto Parish 2.3 (2)
7. Calcasieu Parish 1.9 (2)
8. Beauregard Parish 1.7 (2)
9. Webster Parish 1.7 (1)
10. Vernon Parish 1.5 (2)
11. Washington Parish 1.5 (1)
12. St. Tammany Parish 1.2 (1)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is fire season in Louisiana?

56% of its wildfire records since 1996 fell in August and September. The busiest month is August (8 records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

The costliest wildfire records in Louisiana

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are wildfire records becoming more frequent in Louisiana?

Louisiana's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent wildfire records in Louisiana

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for wildfire records in Louisiana

FEMA has declared 5 disasters in Louisiana for wildfire, counting its incident type and declarations that name fire in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on August 30, 2023.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Next

• Caddo Parish: the county's whole recordThe Louisiana county with the most wildfire records per square mile
• Wildfires across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in LouisianaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
• Severe thunderstorm wind in Louisiana12,655 records
• Hail in Louisiana6,412 records
• Floods in Louisiana3,330 records