In 2025, fire departments serving Billings responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
110 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $75 cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | — | |
| 2023* | 12 | — | |
| 2024 | 21 | — | |
| 2025 | 49 | +133.3% |
* Well below Billings's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 8 building fires Billings departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 7 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Multiple areas | 1 | 4.8% |
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 Billings mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 61.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Billings departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Billings sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,446 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,471 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,121 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,732 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,625 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,212 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,178 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,034 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,016 | 32.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 790 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 772 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 733 | 41.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 706 | 49.2 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Billings. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Billings.
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.