Red Flag Warnings Blanket Five Northern Rockies and Plains States
Critical fire weather triggered Red Flag Warnings across Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and the Dakotas on Sept. 10, capping an active season in the region.
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In 2025, fire departments serving Belcourt responded to 193 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
936 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 192 | — | |
| 2022 | 156 | -18.8% | |
| 2023 | 209 | +34.0% | |
| 2024 | 186 | -11.0% | |
| 2025 | 193 | +3.8% |
For the 13 building fires Belcourt departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 773 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 382 | 49.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 151 | 19.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 62 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 38 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 26 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Other | 14 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 8 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 60 | 7.8% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Belcourt mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 625 | 80.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 26 | 3.4% | |
| 3 | Sunlight | 19 | 2.5% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 16 | 2.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 1.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 11 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 9 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 8 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 3.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Belcourt sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,818 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,000 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,560 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 43.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 2.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,701 | 44.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 1,640 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,400 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,288 | 4.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 15.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 850 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 785 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 785 | 13.0 mi |
Top 9 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six North Dakota cities with population within ±25% of Belcourt. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Belcourt.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.