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2025 County Report

Fires in Garland County, AR

In 2025, fire departments serving Garland County responded to 958 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

67,913 residents FIPS 05051 34 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
958
5,243 across 5 years
Building fires
133
149 wildland
Property loss
$8.2M
$6.6M structure · $1.6M contents
Casualties
1 / 3
1 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.

958
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 147 15.3%
Building fires 133 13.9%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 91 9.5%
Power line down 77 8.0%
Authorized controlled burning 61 6.4%
All other categories 449 46.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Garland County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 105
Feb 73
Mar 193
Apr 118
May 57
Jun 80
Jul 125
Aug 122
Sep 37
Oct 25
Nov 19
Dec 4
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Garland County

5,243 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 865
2022 953
2023 1,184
2024 1,283
2025 958
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 133 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
40%
141
Cause undetermined
23%
82
Intentional / arson
15%
52
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
18
Under investigation
9%
32
Act of nature (lightning)
8%
19
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $4.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Garland County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 64% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,500,000 HOT SPRINGS Building fires Major
2 $1,000,000 HOT SPRINGS Building fires Major
3 $320,000 HOT SPRINGS Building fires Major
4 $290,000 Hot Springs Village Building fires Major
5 $250,000 HOT SPRINGS Building fires Major
6 $200,000 GARLAND COUNTY Building fires Significant
7 $200,000 HOT SPRINGS Building fires Significant
8 $150,000 hot springs Fire, other Significant
9 $150,000 HOT SPRINGS Building fires Significant
10 $150,000 HOT SPRINGS Building fires Significant
06 How Garland County compares

Garland County vs AR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

14.11
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Garland County
14.11
AR avg
11.92
US avg
7.15
1.96
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Garland County
1.96
AR avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
14.7
Civilian fire deaths per million
Garland County
14.7
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Garland County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 05051.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Garland County

9 departments report from this county.

HOT SPRINGS
—
FDID 26600 409 incidents 75 paid
PINEY
Hot Springs
FDID 26005 140 incidents 35 vol
HIGHWAY 70 WEST
Hot Springs
FDID 26001 133 incidents 36 vol
MORNING STAR
Hot Springs
FDID 26006 103 incidents 29 vol
LAKE HAMILTON
—
FDID 26004 75 incidents
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.