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84 wildfires burn across Louisiana, stretching state funds and volunteer crews
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BATON ROUGE - Dry conditions and gusty winds fueled a spike in wildfires across Louisiana this week, and the cost to fight them is rising quickly.
State leaders say millions of taxpayer dollars are on the line, and local volunteer fire departments are feeling the strain as crews continue battling grass and woodland fires.
From Feb. 20 through Feb. 26, there were 84 fires reported statewide, burning more than 2,000 acres. According to state officials, the financial toll of suppressing those fires can add up fast.
“These fires can be very expensive,” said Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
Strain said, on average, it costs his department about $1,000 per acre burned. When factoring in what local fire departments spend on manpower, fuel and equipment, that figure climbs even higher.
“If you add what is being spent by your local fire departments, right? It’s in the thousands of dollars per acre,” Strain said.
He pointed to the devastating fires of 2023 as a prime example of how quickly expenses can spiral. Over a six-week span that year, multiple fires across the state pushed the total cost above $50 million. The Tiger Island fires alone cost more than $45 million.
Strain noted that his agency’s annual firefighting budget is less than $15 million, far below what was needed during that period.
“My annual budget for firefighting is less than $15 million per year,” he said.
As a result, the state had to find additional funding to continue operations.
“So I have to borrow money from the state to keep fighting the fires, and then find a method, either through state appropriation or some other method, to pay it back,” Strain said.
Based on preliminary estimates from this past week alone, the state could spend upwards of $2 million responding to the recent fires.
It’s not just the state feeling the financial pressure. Local departments, many staffed primarily by volunteers, are also stretched thin.
James LeBlanc with the St. Amant Volunteer Fire Department said his crews have seen a sharp increase in calls.
“We’ve been averaging anywhere between five to six to seven grass fires, wildland fires per day,” LeBlanc said.
He added that about 80 percent of firefighters in Louisiana serve as volunteers, making it challenging to maintain coverage during busy stretches.
“To maintain some type of roster so you can keep responding to all these calls is very taxing on the volunteers,” LeBlanc said.
State officials say investigations are conducted when fires are suspected of being caused by negligence. In some cases, the state may seek to recover costs through fines or other penalties.
“You know, we do actively pursue, again, its investigation, and then also to try to recoup the cost wherever we can of fighting those fires,” Strain said.
With dry weather conditions persisting, officials are urging residents to follow burn bans and fire safety guidelines to prevent further damage and mounting costs in the weeks ahead.
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