In 2025, fire departments serving Walnut Ridge responded to 106 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 65% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
658 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $876K cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 116 | — | |
| 2022 | 167 | +44.0% | |
| 2023 | 126 | -24.6% | |
| 2024 | 143 | +13.5% | |
| 2025 | 106 | -25.9% |
For the 8 building fires Walnut Ridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 275 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 71 | 25.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 67 | 24.4% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 25 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 16.7% |
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 Walnut Ridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 154 | 56.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 35 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 21 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Match | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Walnut Ridge departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $45,650 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Walnut Ridge sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,968 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 776 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 587 | 43.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 518 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 460 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 427 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 382 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 371 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 370 | 47.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 340 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 336 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 334 | 48.2 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 Walnut Ridge. 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.