In 2025, fire departments serving Pocahontas responded to 134 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $22K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
725 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $723K cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 134 | — | |
| 2022 | 191 | +42.5% | |
| 2023 | 136 | -28.8% | |
| 2024 | 130 | -4.4% | |
| 2025 | 134 | +3.1% |
For the 16 building fires Pocahontas departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 493 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 | 142 | 28.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 93 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 63 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 39 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 35 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 12 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 60 | 12.2% |
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 Pocahontas mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 322 | 65.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 22 | 4.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 20 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 16 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 14 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 50 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pocahontas departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $21,700 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pocahontas sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,102 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,521 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 780 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 709 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 680 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 587 | 32.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 518 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 460 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 427 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 382 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 371 | 37.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Pocahontas. 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.