In 2025, fire departments serving Salem responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $11K 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 100% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
61 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $52K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | -36.4% | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 11 | — |
* Well below Salem'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 4 building fires Salem departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | 4 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Salem mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 64.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Salem departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $11,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Salem sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,783 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 5,091 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,067 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,401 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,014 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 954 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 825 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 705 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 695 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 636 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 540 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 489 | 45.0 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 Salem. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Salem.
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.