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 Columbia Falls responded to 144 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
792 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $4.5M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 175 | — | |
| 2022 | 163 | -6.9% | |
| 2023 | 152 | -6.7% | |
| 2024 | 158 | +3.9% | |
| 2025 | 144 | -8.9% |
For the 29 building fires Columbia Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 128 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 | 28 | 21.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 38 | 29.7% |
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 Columbia Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 50.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 10.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Columbia Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $55,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Columbia Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 591,064 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Natural | 71,000 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 69,435 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57,273 | 8.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 50,981 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 44,176 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 34,203 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 29,921 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 21,000 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 20,717 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 18,847 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 18,702 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 16,982 | 23.3 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 Montana cities with population within ±25% of Columbia Falls. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Columbia Falls.
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.