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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Cherry Valley, Arkansas

In 2025, fire departments serving Cherry Valley responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C Peak yr 2024 Cross County 600 residents 0 reporting departments 108 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Cherry Valley's departments reported 10 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 22 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
10
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
3
Residential 67% Other 33%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 90% of all calls.

10
Total Incidents
Building fires 3 30.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 2 20.0%
Grass fire 2 20.0%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 1 10.0%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1 10.0%
All other categories 1 10.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 2
Feb 1
Mar 5
Apr 1
May 0
Jun 1
Jul 0
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Cherry Valley

108 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $563K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 15 —
2022 17 +13.3%
2023 31 +82.4%
2024 35 +12.9%
2025* 10 —

* Well below Cherry Valley'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 3 building fires Cherry Valley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
83%
5
Cause undetermined
17%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Cherry Valley?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 27 71.1%
2 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 2 5.3%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 2 5.3%
4 Outside area, other 2 5.3%
5 Other 1 2.6%
6 Entrance way, lobby 1 2.6%
7 Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC 1 2.6%
8 Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola 1 2.6%
9 Exterior, exposed surface 1 2.6%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Cherry Valley mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 35 92.1%
2 Flying brand, ember, spark 2 5.3%
3 Hot or smoldering object, other 1 2.6%
05 How Cherry Valley compares

Cherry Valley vs Arkansas vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cherry Valley sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

16.67
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Cherry Valley
16.67
AR avg
11.9
US avg
7.48
5
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Cherry Valley
5
AR avg
1.61
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Cherry Valley
0
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Cherry Valley

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,879 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2005 Arson/incendiarism 776 37.4 mi
2005 Debris and open burning 450 13.6 mi
2006 Arson/incendiarism 441 40.8 mi
2008 Debris and open burning 282 37.4 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 278 49.4 mi
2000 Arson/incendiarism 275 46.7 mi
1999 Arson/incendiarism 255 35.7 mi
2011 Equipment and vehicle use 250 30.8 mi
2007 Debris and open burning 239 33.6 mi
2015 Debris and open burning 213 48.3 mi
2007 Smoking 210 34.9 mi
2009 Arson/incendiarism 203 4.5 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Cherry Valley do fires concentrate?

Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 72324 105
2 72396 3
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Cherry Valley

Six Arkansas cities with population within ±25% of Cherry Valley. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.