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2025 County Report

Fires in Franklin County, AR

In 2025, fire departments serving Franklin County responded to 94 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $75K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

7,837 residents FIPS 05047 35 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
94
603 across 5 years
Building fires
12
46 wildland
Property loss
$538K
$322K structure · $216K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.

94
Total Incidents
Grass fire 34 36.2%
Building fires 12 12.8%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 8 8.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 5 5.3%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 4 4.3%
All other categories 31 33.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Franklin County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 13
Feb 15
Mar 24
Apr 4
May 8
Jun 8
Jul 10
Aug 5
Sep 1
Oct 1
Nov 3
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Franklin County

603 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 118
2022 166
2023 88
2024 137
2025 94
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 12 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
38%
6
Cause undetermined
6%
1
Intentional / arson
25%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
19%
3
Under investigation
6%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $307K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Franklin County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 95% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $75,000 Ozark Building fires Significant
2 $50,000 Ozark Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
3 $45,000 Ozark Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
4 $30,000 Ozark Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $30,000 Ozark Building fires Significant
6 $25,000 Ozark Building fires Significant
7 $20,000 Ozark Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
8 $15,000 Ozark Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $10,000 Ozark Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $7,000 Ozark Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
06 How Franklin County compares

Franklin County vs AR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.99
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Franklin County
11.99
AR avg
11.92
US avg
7.15
1.53
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Franklin County
1.53
AR avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Franklin County
0
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Franklin County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 05047.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Franklin County

10 departments report from this county.

BRANCH RURAL
Branch
FDID 24005 33 incidents 16 vol
WATALULA
OZARK
FDID 24010 26 incidents 14 vol
ALTUS CITY
Altus
FDID 24000 20 incidents 18 vol
BARNES
OZARK
FDID 24008 10 incidents 25 vol
PLEASANT VIEW
—
FDID 24004 8 incidents 15 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.