In 2025, fire departments serving Prairie Grove responded to 116 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
495 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 83 | — | |
| 2022 | 116 | +39.8% | |
| 2023 | 81 | -30.2% | |
| 2024 | 99 | +22.2% | |
| 2025 | 116 | +17.2% |
For the 36 building fires Prairie Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 134 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 | 81 | 60.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 12.7% |
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 Prairie Grove mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 100 | 74.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 5.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Prairie Grove departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Prairie Grove sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 70,858 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14,000 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,050 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,800 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,700 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,285 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,240 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 46.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,770 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,500 | 47.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,310 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,135 | 25.5 mi |
Top 8 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 Prairie Grove. 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.