Fern, Arkansas
16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1978. It stands in Black Oak Township. It lies in ZIP code area 72946. It stands on Fern Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Fern quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 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.
- 1898 USGS Winslow quadrangle1:125000
- 1898 USGS Winslow #4 quadrangle1:62500
- 1901 USGS Winslow quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1946 USGS Fort Smith quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Fort Smith quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Fort Smith quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Fern quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1978 USGS Fort Smith quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1978 USGS Stilwell quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
86 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 86 fires within 5 miles of Fern between 1992 and 2020, burning about 5,347 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 39 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 | 39 |
| Debris and open burning | 13 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13 |
| Natural | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 26 acres | Ozark-St. Francis National Forests | GRAHAM |
| 27 September 1994 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Ozark-St. Francis National Forests | not named |
| 26 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Ozark-St. Francis National Forests | PLYMOUTH |
| 26 September 2013 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Ozark-St. Francis National Forests | FERN |
| 25 September 2012 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 2 September 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Ozark-St. Francis National Forests | OVERLOOK |
| 8 August 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Arkansas Forestry Commission | not named |
| 7 August 2006 | Natural | under an acre | Ozark-St. Francis National Forests | WHITE LIGHTNING |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
14 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fern in 14 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 9 hail, 2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. The reports record 2 injuries. 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 1996 | Tornado (F2) | Fern | 2 hurt, $500,000 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Tornado (EF1) | Fern | $30,000 | This tornado developed over Fern Mountain, and moved east-northeast uprooting and snapping numerous trees, and damaging outbuildings. A tornadic debris signature was detected by the KSRX WSR-88D with this tornado. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 95 to 105 mph. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fern | $1,000 | Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew several shingles off a roof of a home. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fern | $500 | Trees were blown down across highways in Fern. |
| May 2006 | Flash Flood | Fern | - | Thunderstorms produced heavy rain, which caused flooding and the closure of a road near Fern. |
| April 2014 | Hail | Fern | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Fern | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Fern | - | no account filed |
| February 2013 | Hail | Fern | - | no account filed |
| April 2008 | Hail | Fern | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Fern | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Fern | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Fern | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Fern | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piney | 4.3 miles | 16 | |
| White Rock | 4.7 miles | 14 | |
| Lone Elm | 6.9 miles | 14 | |
| Jethro | 7.2 miles | 14 | |
| Cravens | 8.2 miles | 14 | |
| Toney | 8.8 miles | 14 | |
| Paradise | 9.7 miles | 15 | |
| Fresno (historical) | 10.2 miles | 15 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 71604. 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.








