In 2025, fire departments serving Quitman responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
210 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $130K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 68 | +54.5% | |
| 2023 | 30 | -55.9% | |
| 2024* | 17 | — | |
| 2025 | 51 | — |
* Well below Quitman's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 10 building fires Quitman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 101 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 | 31 | 30.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 20 | 19.8% | |
| 3 | Other | 14 | 13.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 11.9% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 8.9% |
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 Quitman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 49.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 14 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Match | 8 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 8.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Quitman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,488 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 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,779 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,653 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,591 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,401 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,052 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,032 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,004 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 821 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 776 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 736 | 32.5 mi |
Top 6 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 Quitman. 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.