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2025 County Report

Fires in Washington County, AR

In 2025, fire departments serving Washington County responded to 1,843 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $450K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

223,585 residents FIPS 05143 53 cities · 18 fire depts
Total incidents
1,843
9,110 across 5 years
Building fires
239
245 wildland
Property loss
$12.2M
$8.9M structure · $3.3M contents
Casualties
0 / 10
0 civ deaths · 7 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 47% of all calls.

1,843
Total Incidents
Building fires 239 13.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 217 11.8%
Unauthorized burning 195 10.6%
Power line down 112 6.1%
Authorized controlled burning 99 5.4%
All other categories 981 53.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Washington County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 192
Feb 141
Mar 357
Apr 168
May 158
Jun 96
Jul 160
Aug 139
Sep 107
Oct 113
Nov 78
Dec 134
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Washington County

9,110 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,669
2022 1,918
2023 1,785
2024 1,895
2025 1,843
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 239 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
49%
275
Cause undetermined
18%
103
Intentional / arson
12%
70
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
40
Under investigation
10%
59
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
15
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Washington County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 36% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $450,000 LINCOLN Building fires Major
2 $400,000 FAYETTEVILLE Building fires Major
3 $376,000 FAYETTEVILLE Building fires Major
4 $350,000 FARMINGTON Building fires Major
5 $300,000 PRAIRIE GROVE Building fires Major
6 $300,000 Springdale Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
7 $300,000 Springdale Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
8 $254,645 Springdale Building fires Major
9 $250,000 FAYETTEVILLE Building fires Major
10 $225,000 FAYETTEVILLE Building fires Significant
06 How Washington County compares

Washington County vs AR vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.24
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Washington County
8.24
AR avg
11.92
US avg
7.15
1.07
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Washington County
1.07
AR avg
1.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Washington County
0
AR avg
16.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Washington County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 05143.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Washington County

18 departments report from this county.

SPRINGDALE
Springdale
FDID 72300 590 incidents 798 paid
WEST FORK
—
FDID 72009 155 incidents
FARMINGTON
—
FDID 72002 99 incidents 24 vol
LINCOLN
—
FDID 72004 99 incidents 1 paid 16 vol
PRAIRIE GROVE
—
FDID 72006 93 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.