In 2025, fire departments serving Rector responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
146 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $969K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 | — | |
| 2022 | 36 | +16.1% | |
| 2023 | 29 | -19.4% | |
| 2024 | 20 | -31.0% | |
| 2025 | 30 | +50.0% |
For the 5 building fires Rector departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 72 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 | Other | 16 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 7 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 12.5% |
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 Rector mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 35 | 48.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 17 | 23.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rector departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rector sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,446 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 334 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 316 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 285 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 278 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 185 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 174 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 170 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 167 | 44.5 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 Rector. 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.