BlockBefore

Bear, Arkansas

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1982. It stands in Hale Township. It lies in ZIP code area 71968. It stands on Rouse Creek. The Survey maps it on the Crystal Springs quadrangle.

Bear within Garland County

On record in Bear

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 15 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

92 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 92 fires within 5 miles of Bear between 1992 and 2019, burning about 689 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 22 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning37
Arson/incendiarism22
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Recreation and ceremony5
Natural5
Equipment and vehicle use4
Fireworks4
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Smoking2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 2011Arson/incendiarism8.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 2012Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
7 September 1999Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1997Debris and open burning2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
29 September 2001Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.5 acresOuachita National ForestBEAR RIFLE RANGE
28 September 1999Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
27 September 2011Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
21 September 2011Debris and open burning2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Garland County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Bear: 4 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Slate, Dimension, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Job No Joo-235Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
No NameClayPast Producer
No NameSlate, DimensionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnkSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnkSlate, DimensionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Garland County

Storms near this place

13 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bear in 13 storm reports between 2005 and 2024: 4 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 3 lightning, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
November 2019LightningBear1 hurt, $75,000A woman, 61 years old, in Royal, was burned by a lightning strike and airlifted to a Memphis hospital due to bad weather in the Little Rock area. Her trailer caught fire from the lightning strike and she suffered burns to her hands and feet.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindBear$100,000Trees were down. At least one tree fell on a house. Power lines blocked some roads.
July 2013LightningBear$40,000Lightning struck a mobile home near Royal, starting a fire. The home suffered considerable damage.
April 2012LightningBear$25,000Lightning struck a house, setting a fire. The siding, roof line, and electrical wiring were damaged, and the house was filled with smoke.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindBear$20,000Trees and power lines were blown down, with some of them blocking roads. Some outbuildings had tin peeled off their roofs. An empty 53-foot trailer had its roof peeled off and was blown over. A billboard was blown down.
February 2024HailBear-An mPING report was received.
February 2023Flash FloodBear-A Ham Radio operator reported that Brady Mountain Rd. was covered by water and impassable from overflow from Bear Creek.
June 2023HailBear-Baseball sized hail fell near Royal via mPING.
May 2022HailBear-This was an mPING report.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindBear-A tree was blown down on Highway 270.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindBear-Large trees were uprooted and snapped.
November 2005Tornado (F1)Bear-A weak tornado touched down briefly about 2 miles north of the town of Bear. Winds were estimated to be around 80 mph. It appears the tornado formed on a slope leading down to Lake Ouachita. Damage along the path of the tornado consisted of uprooted and snapped trees along a hillside, with boat docks pushed outward away from shore. The pushing caused the dock moorings, which are normally vertical, to lean. The tornado likely went into Lake Ouachita as a waterspout for a brief period of time before dissipating about 3 miles north-northeast of Bear.
August 2010HailBear-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Garland County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Royal2.4 miles13
Maddox3.3 miles8
Crystal Springs3.4 miles15
Sunshine4.6 miles8
Crystal Springs Landing4.7 miles15
Chandler4.9 miles8
Cedar Glades (historical)5.5 miles15
Mountain Pine5.9 miles13

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 76263. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.