In 2025, fire departments serving Hot Springs responded to 696 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.5M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,682 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $10.1M cumulative property loss. 10 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 523 | — | |
| 2022 | 533 | +1.9% | |
| 2023 | 941 | +76.5% | |
| 2024 | 989 | +5.1% | |
| 2025 | 696 | -29.6% |
For the 82 building fires Hot Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,328 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 | 310 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 187 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 142 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 111 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 85 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 81 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 40 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 37 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 28 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Other | 24 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 283 | 21.3% |
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 Hot Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 739 | 55.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 124 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 58 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 57 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 42 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 34 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 34 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Match | 23 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 21 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 20 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 176 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hot Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 68% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $320,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hot Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
33 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 3 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 6 | |
| 40-49 | 5 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 38,966 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 8,294 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 5,091 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 4,000 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 3,739 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,067 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,535 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,401 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,014 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 960 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 954 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 933 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 852 | 43.8 mi |
Top 10 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 Hot Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hot 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.