In 2025, fire departments serving Alma responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 81% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
389 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 97 | — | |
| 2022 | 106 | +9.3% | |
| 2023 | 57 | -46.2% | |
| 2024 | 76 | +33.3% | |
| 2025 | 53 | -30.3% |
For the 7 building fires Alma departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 227 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 34 | 15.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 33 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 22 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 21 | 9.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 18.5% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Alma mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 84 | 37.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 20 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 12 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 11 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 9 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 30 | 13.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alma departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alma sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 57,582 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,370 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,050 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 4,000 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,800 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,285 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,240 | 22.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,770 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,700 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,400 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,135 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,108 | 23.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 2,085 | 23.6 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Arkansas cities with population within ±25% of Alma. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.