In 2025, fire departments serving DeWitt responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
98 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | — | |
| 2023 | 13 | -51.9% | |
| 2024 | 28 | +115.4% | |
| 2025 | 27 | -3.6% |
* Well below DeWitt'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 4 building fires DeWitt departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | Undetermined | 24 | 85.7% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 3.6% |
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 DeWitt mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 92.9% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by DeWitt departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,000 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. DeWitt sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,621 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 606 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 319 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 221 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 192 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 188 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 178 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 173 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 158 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 157 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 155 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 151 | 42.9 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 | 72042 | 98 |
Six Arkansas cities with population within ±25% of DeWitt. 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.