In 2025, fire departments serving Ward responded to 80 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
415 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $169K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 74 | — | |
| 2022 | 120 | +62.2% | |
| 2023 | 66 | -45.0% | |
| 2024 | 75 | +13.6% | |
| 2025 | 80 | +6.7% |
For the 11 building fires Ward departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 252 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 | 93 | 36.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 53 | 21.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 26 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 3 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 9.9% |
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 Ward mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 167 | 66.3% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 14 | 5.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 8 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ward departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 75% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ward sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,418 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 | 1,500 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 776 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 636 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 524 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 441 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 413 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 367 | 3.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 343 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 336 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 330 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 303 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 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 Ward. 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.