In 2025, fire departments serving Midway responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 84% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
114 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $247K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | -19.0% | |
| 2023 | 24 | +41.2% | |
| 2024 | 33 | +37.5% | |
| 2025 | 19 | -42.4% |
For the 6 building fires Midway departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 8 | 38.1% | |
| 2 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 9.5% |
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 Midway mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 76.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Midway sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 36,926 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,983 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,471 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,121 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,101 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,008 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 1,631 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,625 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,591 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 1,470 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,460 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,350 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,340 | 41.0 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 | 72651 | 114 |
Six Arkansas cities with population within ±25% of Midway. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Midway.
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.