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2025 County Report

Fires in Sebastian County, AR

In 2025, fire departments serving Sebastian County responded to 505 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $368K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

109,550 residents FIPS 05131 37 cities · 16 fire depts
Total incidents
505
5,279 across 5 years
Building fires
73
76 wildland
Property loss
$3.9M
$2.8M structure · $1.0M contents
Casualties
0 / 5
0 civ deaths · 3 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 56% of all calls.

505
Total Incidents
Unauthorized burning 86 17.0%
Building fires 73 14.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 48 9.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 42 8.3%
Power line down 34 6.7%
All other categories 222 44.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Sebastian County?

Aug peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 39
Feb 17
Mar 53
Apr 74
May 13
Jun 11
Jul 12
Aug 82
Sep 72
Oct 63
Nov 54
Dec 15
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Sebastian County

5,279 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,407
2022 1,378
2023 810
2024 1,179
2025 505
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 73 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
56%
96
Cause undetermined
11%
18
Intentional / arson
8%
13
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
11
Under investigation
6%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
13%
8
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.6M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Sebastian County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 57% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $367,680 Greenwood Building fires Major
2 $300,000 Lavaca Building fires Major
3 $200,000 Lavaca Building fires Significant
4 $150,000 FORT SMITH Building fires Significant
5 $128,000 Fort Smith Building fires Significant
6 $115,000 Fort Smith Building fires Significant
7 $100,000 Hartford Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 Fort Smith Building fires Significant
9 $86,850 Hackett Building fires Significant
10 $85,000 FORT SMITH Building fires Significant
06 How Sebastian County compares

Sebastian County vs AR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

4.61
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Sebastian County
4.61
AR avg
11.92
US avg
7.15
0.67
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Sebastian County
0.67
AR avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Sebastian County
0
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Sebastian County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 05131.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Sebastian County

16 departments report from this county.

FORT SMITH
Fort Smith
FDID 66600 321 incidents 130 paid
WHITE BLUFFRYE HILL
—
FDID 66602 49 incidents 15 vol
MANSFIELD
—
FDID 66007 32 incidents
E M P RURAL
—
FDID 66014 26 incidents
SUGARLOAF SLAYTONVILLE
Hackett
FDID 66011 18 incidents 14 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.