In 2025, fire departments serving Gosnell responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
82 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 10 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 12 | +20.0% | |
| 2024 | 19 | +58.3% | |
| 2025 | 31 | +63.2% |
For the 6 building fires Gosnell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 22.9% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 18.8% |
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 Gosnell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 56.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gosnell departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gosnell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,512 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 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 316 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 175 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 168 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 31.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 139 | 15.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 135 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 32.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Smoking | 98 | 44.6 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 | 72315 | 82 |
Six Arkansas cities with population within ±25% of Gosnell. 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.