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.
MTWYIDND
In 2025, fire departments serving Challis responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
64 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $630K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 10 | +11.1% | |
| 2023 | 18 | +80.0% | |
| 2024 | 15 | -16.7% | |
| 2025 | 12 | -20.0% |
For the 1 building fires Challis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 52 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 | 27 | 51.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 12 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Roof surface: exterior | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.9% |
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 Challis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 82.7% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 1 | 1.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Challis sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 691,568 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Natural | 181,948 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 62,591 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 60,009 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 40,483 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 35,122 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 34,900 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 25,007 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 24,639 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 24,501 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 22,825 | 11.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 20,400 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 20,000 | 25.4 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 83226 | 64 |
Six Idaho cities with population within ±25% of Challis. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Challis.
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.