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2025 County Report

Fires in Ouachita County, AR

In 2025, fire departments serving Ouachita County responded to 240 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $150K property loss.

14,165 residents FIPS 05103 38 cities · 14 fire depts
Total incidents
240
1,188 across 5 years
Building fires
41
53 wildland
Property loss
$1.6M
$1.1M structure · $575K contents
Casualties
1 / 3
1 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 3 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.

240
Total Incidents
Building fires 41 17.1%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 22 9.2%
Unauthorized burning 21 8.8%
Passenger vehicle fire 20 8.3%
Fire, other 16 6.7%
All other categories 120 50.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Ouachita County?

Mar peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 35
Feb 17
Mar 58
Apr 20
May 15
Jun 11
Jul 14
Aug 14
Sep 11
Oct 17
Nov 14
Dec 14
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Ouachita County

1,188 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 146
2022 265
2023 224
2024 313
2025 240
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 41 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
44%
34
Cause undetermined
23%
18
Intentional / arson
4%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
6
Under investigation
13%
10
Act of nature (lightning)
8%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $810K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Ouachita County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 75% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $150,000 Camden Building fires Significant
2 $150,000 Camden Building fires Significant
3 $100,000 Camden Building fires Significant
4 $94,100 Stephens Building fires Significant
5 $60,000 Camden Building fires Significant
6 $56,000 Bearden Building fires Significant
7 $55,000 Camden Building fires Significant
8 $50,000 Camden Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
9 $50,000 Camden Building fires Significant
10 $45,000 Camden Building fires Significant
06 How Ouachita County compares

Ouachita County vs AR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.94
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Ouachita County
16.94
AR avg
11.92
US avg
7.15
2.89
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Ouachita County
2.89
AR avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
70.6
Civilian fire deaths per million
Ouachita County
70.6
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Ouachita County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 05103.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Ouachita County

14 departments report from this county.

Camden
Camden
FDID 52300 157 incidents 28 paid
FRENCHPORT VOL
—
FDID 52009 25 incidents
EAST CAMDEN
—
FDID 52003 21 incidents 14 vol
ELLIOTT VOL
—
FDID 52011 15 incidents 18 vol
STEPHENS
—
FDID 52007 5 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.