In 2025, fire departments serving Bald Knob responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M 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 75% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
454 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 97 | — | |
| 2022 | 96 | -1.0% | |
| 2023 | 75 | -21.9% | |
| 2024 | 94 | +25.3% | |
| 2025 | 92 | -2.1% |
For the 10 building fires Bald Knob departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 323 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 | Undetermined | 108 | 33.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 90 | 27.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 30 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 4 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 31 | 9.6% |
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 Bald Knob mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 247 | 76.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 4.0% | |
| 3 | Match | 10 | 3.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 9 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 4 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bald Knob departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bald Knob sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,229 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,779 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 776 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 636 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 524 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 456 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 441 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 367 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 282 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 278 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 270 | 28.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 255 | 15.2 mi |
Top 2 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 Bald Knob. 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.