In 2025, fire departments serving Bismarck responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
68 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $30K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | — | |
| 2023* | 8 | — | |
| 2024* | 6 | — | |
| 2025 | 27 | — |
* Well below Bismarck'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 7 building fires Bismarck departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 7 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 11.1% |
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 Bismarck mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 33.3% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 11.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bismarck sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 13 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 370 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 0.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 1.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 2.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 5.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Smoking | 10 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 3.6 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Bismarck. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.