Brightstar, Arkansas
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1952 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Sulphur Township. It lies in ZIP code area 71834. The Survey maps it on the Doddridge quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 16 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1952 USGS Doddridge quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1953 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Magnolia quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS El Dorado quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
242 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 242 fires within 5 miles of Brightstar between 1995 and 2020, burning about 2,013 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 102 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 102 |
| Debris and open burning | 69 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 15 |
| Natural | 8 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 9 September 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 9 September 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | CASS 21:36 |
| 4 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 4 September 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | MIL15019195 |
| 29 September 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
12 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brightstar in 12 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 7 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brightstar | $50,000 | Numerous trees were blown down, blocking several county roads. |
| February 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brightstar | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees and damaged two automobiles. |
| April 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Brightstar | $25,000 | This tornado was a continuation from the tornado that first touched down in Cass County, Texas. The storm continued into Miller County, as an EF0 tornado. As the tornado moved into Miller County, several large trees limbs and branches were ripped down by the tornado along Miller County Roads 152 and 24. The tornado entered Fouke, Arkansas at around 8:10 PM CDT, where it snapped several large trees in a nearby field and caused property damage when it blew a large tree limb onto the bed of a truck and into the corner of a house. The tornado lifted as it exited Fouke. Maximum winds are estimated at 70-80 mph. |
| May 1997 | Hail | Brightstar | $10,000 | Numerous reports of broken windows and damaged roofs on homes and automobiles. |
| November 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brightstar | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed several trees. |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brightstar | - | A tree was blown down at the intersection of Highway 160 and County Road 3. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brightstar | - | Several trees downed along Miller County Road 75 a few miles east of Bloomburg, Texas. |
| October 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brightstar | - | Numerous trees and large branches were downed across Highway 160 between Bloomburg and Interstate 49. |
| November 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brightstar | - | Trees were downed in the community of Bright Star, Arkansas. |
| November 1994 | Hail | Brightstar | - | Thunderstorm winds downed some trees. |
| February 1993 | Hail | Brightstar | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees and damaged two automobiles. |
| May 1994 | Hail | Brightstar | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hammons | 3.1 miles | 13 | |
| Ravanna | 4.4 miles | 13 | |
| Black Diamond | 4.5 miles | 15 | |
| Doddridge | 4.6 miles | 16 | |
| Era (historical) | 5.7 miles | 16 | |
| Fort Lynn | 6.6 miles | 15 | |
| Capps City | 6.6 miles | 16 | |
| Kiblah | 6.6 miles | 16 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Brightstar | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q18326208 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 76417. 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.
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.






