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2025 County Report

Fires in Hot Spring County, AR

In 2025, fire departments serving Hot Spring County responded to 317 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $110K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

13,959 residents FIPS 05059 28 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
317
2,034 across 5 years
Building fires
57
58 wildland
Property loss
$539K
$483K structure · $56K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.

317
Total Incidents
Building fires 57 18.0%
Unauthorized burning 45 14.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 27 8.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 27 8.5%
Fire, other 21 6.6%
All other categories 140 44.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Hot Spring County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 28
Feb 40
Mar 87
Apr 27
May 19
Jun 15
Jul 27
Aug 17
Sep 26
Oct 16
Nov 11
Dec 4
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Hot Spring County

2,034 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 414
2022 517
2023 323
2024 463
2025 317
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 57 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
54%
65
Cause undetermined
18%
21
Intentional / arson
8%
9
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
10
Under investigation
3%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
11
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $420K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Hot Spring County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 87% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $110,000 MALVERN Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
2 $80,000 Malvern Building fires Significant
3 $60,000 MALVERN Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
4 $35,000 Donaldson Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $35,000 MALVERN Building fires Significant
6 $25,000 MALVERN Building fires Significant
7 $25,000 MALVERN Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
8 $25,000 MALVERN Building fires Significant
9 $15,000 Malvern Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
10 $10,000 MALVERN Building fires Significant
06 How Hot Spring County compares

Hot Spring County vs AR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

22.71
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hot Spring County
22.71
AR avg
11.92
US avg
7.15
4.08
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hot Spring County
4.08
AR avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hot Spring County
0
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Hot Spring County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 05059.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Hot Spring County

11 departments report from this county.

MALVERN
—
FDID 30300 157 incidents 16 paid
GLEN ROSE
Malvern
FDID 30007 52 incidents 30 vol
NEW DE ROCHE VOL
Bismarck
FDID 30004 38 incidents 12 vol
BONNERDALE
—
FDID 30301 19 incidents
OUACHITA
Donaldson
FDID 30008 8 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.