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2025 County Report

Fires in Phillips County, AR

In 2025, fire departments serving Phillips County responded to 89 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $36K property loss.

11,257 residents FIPS 05107 36 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
89
1,101 across 5 years
Building fires
31
16 wildland
Property loss
$174K
$137K structure · $38K 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 73% of all calls.

89
Total Incidents
Building fires 31 34.8%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 13 14.6%
Grass fire 9 10.1%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 6 6.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 6 6.7%
All other categories 24 27.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Phillips County?

Mar peaks. May dips.

Jan 23
Feb 32
Mar 33
Apr 1
May 0
Jun 0
Jul 0
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Phillips County

1,101 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 237
2022 156
2023 308
2024 311
2025 89
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 31 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
8%
6
Cause undetermined
79%
56
Intentional / arson
6%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
6%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $135K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Phillips County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $36,000 West Helena Building fires Significant
2 $35,000 Helena Building fires Significant
3 $20,000 West Helena Building fires Significant
4 $10,000 West Helena Building fires Significant
5 $10,000 West Helena Building fires Significant
6 $10,000 West Helena Building fires Significant
7 $5,000 Lexa Building fires Significant
8 $5,000 West Helena Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $3,000 Poplar Grove Building fires Significant
10 $1,000 West Helena Building fires Significant
06 How Phillips County compares

Phillips County vs AR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

7.91
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Phillips County
7.91
AR avg
11.92
US avg
7.15
2.75
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Phillips County
2.75
AR avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Phillips County
0
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Phillips County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 05107.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Phillips County

7 departments report from this county.

BARTON
—
FDID 54000 10 incidents 34 vol
ELAINE
—
FDID 54001 0 incidents
WABASH
—
FDID 54006 0 incidents
LAKEVIEW
—
FDID 54007 0 incidents
WATKINS CORNER
—
FDID 54008 0 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.