In 2025, fire departments serving Horseshoe Bend responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 96% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
128 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | -39.4% | |
| 2023 | 25 | +25.0% | |
| 2024 | 25 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 25 | +0.0% |
For the 8 building fires Horseshoe Bend departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 86 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 | 30 | 34.9% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 9.3% |
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 Horseshoe Bend mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 30 | 34.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 21 | 24.4% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 5.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Horseshoe Bend departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $58,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Horseshoe Bend sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,007 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,779 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 1,631 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,591 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,460 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,350 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,126 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,032 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 928 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 821 | 40.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 23.0 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 Horseshoe Bend. 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.