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2025 County Report

Fires in Union County, AR

In 2025, fire departments serving Union County responded to 351 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss.

22,693 residents FIPS 05139 51 cities · 15 fire depts
Total incidents
351
1,845 across 5 years
Building fires
54
86 wildland
Property loss
$2.7M
$2.1M structure · $595K contents
Casualties
3 / 3
3 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.

351
Total Incidents
Building fires 54 15.4%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 37 10.5%
Grass fire 30 8.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 30 8.5%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 24 6.8%
All other categories 176 50.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Union County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 37
Feb 41
Mar 64
Apr 38
May 18
Jun 17
Jul 29
Aug 30
Sep 13
Oct 19
Nov 16
Dec 29
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Union County

1,845 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 295
2022 439
2023 353
2024 407
2025 351
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 54 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
51%
87
Cause undetermined
20%
34
Intentional / arson
9%
15
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
16
Under investigation
2%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
7
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Union County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 66% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 UNION COUNTY Building fires Major
2 $200,000 El Dorado Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
3 $200,000 El Dorado Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other Significant
4 $148,000 El Dorado Building fires Significant
5 $131,000 El Dorado Building fires Significant
6 $125,000 Mt Holly Building fires Significant
7 $120,000 El Dorado Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 UNION COUNTY Building fires Significant
9 $75,000 Mt Holly Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
10 $50,000 EL DORADO Building fires Significant
06 How Union County compares

Union County vs AR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

15.47
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Union County
15.47
AR avg
11.92
US avg
7.15
2.38
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Union County
2.38
AR avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
132.2
Civilian fire deaths per million
Union County
132.2
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Union County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 05139.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Union County

15 departments report from this county.

EL DORADO
El Dorado
FDID 70600 244 incidents 51 paid
SMACKOVER
—
FDID 70006 27 incidents
NORPHLET VOL
Norphlet
FDID 70005 25 incidents 18 vol
CALION
—
FDID 70000 14 incidents
OLD UNION VOL
—
FDID 70009 11 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.