In 2025, fire departments serving Black Rock responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
73 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $579K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | +23.1% | |
| 2023 | 22 | +37.5% | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 15 | — |
* Well below Black Rock's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 6 building fires Black Rock departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 45 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 | 8 | 17.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 13.3% |
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 Black Rock mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 42.2% | |
| 2 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 6 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Black Rock departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Black Rock sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,490 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 776 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 709 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 680 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 666 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 587 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 518 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 460 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 441 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 427 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 382 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 371 | 47.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72415 | 73 |
Six Arkansas cities with population within ±25% of Black Rock. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Black Rock.
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.