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2025 County Report

Fires in Craighead County, AR

In 2025, fire departments serving Craighead County responded to 1,095 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

92,876 residents FIPS 05031 53 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
1,095
4,126 across 5 years
Building fires
196
305 wildland
Property loss
$12.0M
$9.0M structure · $3.0M contents
Casualties
0 / 19
0 civ deaths · 12 civ inj · 7 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.

1,095
Total Incidents
Building fires 196 17.9%
Grass fire 151 13.8%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 128 11.7%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 114 10.4%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 63 5.8%
All other categories 443 40.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Craighead County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 104
Feb 73
Mar 288
Apr 96
May 53
Jun 75
Jul 89
Aug 65
Sep 73
Oct 64
Nov 68
Dec 47
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Craighead County

4,126 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 990
2022 728
2023 404
2024 909
2025 1,095
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 196 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
243
Cause undetermined
22%
107
Intentional / arson
14%
68
Equipment / heat source failure
3%
17
Under investigation
8%
37
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
7
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $4.5M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Craighead County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 50% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 JONESBORO Building fires Major
2 $1,000,000 JONESBORO Building fires Major
3 $525,000 Bay Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
4 $350,000 Jonesboro Building fires Major
5 $300,000 CASH Building fires Major
6 $300,000 Jonesboro Building fires Major
7 $300,000 JONESBORO Building fires Major
8 $250,000 CASH Building fires Major
9 $250,000 JONESBORO Building fires Major
10 $250,000 JONESBORO Building fires Major
06 How Craighead County compares

Craighead County vs AR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.79
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Craighead County
11.79
AR avg
11.92
US avg
7.15
2.11
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Craighead County
2.11
AR avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Craighead County
0
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Craighead County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 05031.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Craighead County

9 departments report from this county.

BROOKLAND FIRE PROT DIS
—
FDID 16003 132 incidents 39 vol
LAKE CITY
—
FDID 16007 59 incidents
SOUTHRIDGE
Jonesboro
FDID 16010 47 incidents 20 vol
BONO
—
FDID 16002 46 incidents
PHILADELPHIA
Jonesboro
FDID 16009 35 incidents 20 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in AR

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 No Mans Land 2006 USFS 8,403
2 Sulphur Mountain 2006 USFS 4,475
3 Big Point 2016 USFS 3,993
4 Pipeline 2016 USFS 3,286
5 21 Lick Creek 2021 NPS 3,250
6 20 Cave Creek 2020 NPS 2,939
7 Walker 2024 USFS 1,844
8 Flat Rock 2001 NPS 1,484
9 Slick Rock Hollow 2013 NPS 1,211
10 ABOUT TIME 1996 NPS 1,073

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.