In 2025, fire departments serving Brookland responded to 87 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 83% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
332 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $500K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51 | — | |
| 2022 | 57 | +11.8% | |
| 2023 | 64 | +12.3% | |
| 2024 | 73 | +14.1% | |
| 2025 | 87 | +19.2% |
For the 28 building fires Brookland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 244 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 | Outside area, other | 99 | 40.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 31 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 13 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 13.9% |
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 Brookland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 224 | 91.8% | |
| 2 | Lightning | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 3 | Fireworks | 3 | 1.2% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 1.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.4% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 0.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.4% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 0.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 1.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brookland departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brookland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,379 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 282 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 278 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 251 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 232 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 226 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 213 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 203 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 18.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 174 | 48.8 mi |
Top 4 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 Brookland. 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.