Take a sample to your county agricultural extension agent, but it sounds as though a bacterial blight crept upwards from the graft union.

I sent a note to the Parish agent and he said it's freeze damage. He said that figs and other plants don't go completely dormant in a mild winter. But when we do get a freeze, it zaps them. He says they actually do better in a colder winter than mild ones with a few freezes.

Wow, good to know. I never had what you're describing, but I had some kind of beetle that bored out the center of the branches, killing mine. Anybody have any info on this bug and how to prevent or manage it in the future?

On the fig tree I lost, I would look for and listen for damage. I could actually hear the little thing grinding away inside the cane! Also, there were little piles of 'sawdust' under the tree here and there. I would lop off the infested branches little by little until I got past the chewed part. I'd burn the cut branches. Despite trying to be vigilant, I lost the tree. Maybe I could have used a chemical treatment, but I hate to do that on a tree that makes fruit for us to eat. Sometimes, I wonder how those huge fig trees in the neighborhood live so long. Some of them take up people's entire yards! I've always had trouble with mine...