In 2025, fire departments serving Cave Springs responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 67% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
166 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $717K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 42 | — | |
| 2023 | 47 | +11.9% | |
| 2024 | 35 | -25.5% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -14.3% |
* Well below Cave Springs'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 2 building fires Cave Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 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 | 6 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 27.3% |
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 Cave Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 24.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 12.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cave Springs departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cave Springs sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 49,978 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,050 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,800 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,285 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,240 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,770 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,580 | 40.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,310 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,135 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,108 | 41.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 2,085 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,920 | 48.6 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 Cave Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cave Springs.
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.