In 2025, fire departments serving Bryant responded to 198 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,054 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $577K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 197 | — | |
| 2022 | 235 | +19.3% | |
| 2023 | 225 | -4.3% | |
| 2024 | 199 | -11.6% | |
| 2025 | 198 | -0.5% |
For the 12 building fires Bryant departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 418 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 | 107 | 25.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 56 | 13.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 45 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 37 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 28 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 23 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 7 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 70 | 16.7% |
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 Bryant mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 216 | 51.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 32 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 22 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 18 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 14 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 52 | 12.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bryant departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $67,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,500 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bryant sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,783 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 5,091 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,067 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,401 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,014 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 954 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 825 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 705 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 695 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 636 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 540 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 489 | 49.0 mi |
Top 7 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 Bryant. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bryant.
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.