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2025 County Report

Fires in St. Francis County, AR

In 2025, fire departments serving St. Francis County responded to 329 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss.

17,498 residents FIPS 05123 43 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
329
1,644 across 5 years
Building fires
68
86 wildland
Property loss
$2.4M
$1.8M structure · $587K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.

329
Total Incidents
Building fires 68 20.7%
Grass fire 57 17.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 31 9.4%
Passenger vehicle fire 22 6.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 20 6.1%
All other categories 131 39.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in St. Francis County?

Mar peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 28
Feb 26
Mar 50
Apr 21
May 19
Jun 14
Jul 33
Aug 36
Sep 34
Oct 22
Nov 23
Dec 23
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in St. Francis County

1,644 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 355
2022 302
2023 371
2024 287
2025 329
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 68 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
36%
54
Cause undetermined
36%
53
Intentional / arson
6%
9
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
9
Under investigation
5%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
11%
11
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.0M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in St. Francis County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 58% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Palestine Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
2 $175,000 FORREST CITY Building fires Significant
3 $100,000 Palestine Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
4 $100,000 Forrest City Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
5 $100,000 FORREST CITY Building fires Significant
6 $85,000 Forrest City Building fires Significant
7 $75,000 WHEATLEY Building fires Significant
8 $50,000 FORREST CITY Building fires Significant
9 $50,000 FORREST CITY Building fires Significant
10 $50,000 FORREST CITY Building fires Significant
06 How St. Francis County compares

St. Francis County vs AR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

18.8
Incidents per 1,000 residents
St. Francis County
18.8
AR avg
11.92
US avg
7.15
3.89
Building fires per 1,000 residents
St. Francis County
3.89
AR avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
St. Francis County
0
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in St. Francis County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 05123.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in St. Francis County

8 departments report from this county.

FORREST CITY FIRE DEPT
Forrest City
FDID 62303 251 incidents 21 paid
PALESTINE
Palestine
FDID 62006 41 incidents
WHEATLEY
—
FDID 62005 23 incidents
COLT
—
FDID 62001 17 incidents
MADISON
—
FDID 62003 1 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.