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 Deer Lodge responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Deer Lodge's departments reported 12 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 23 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
116 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $774K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | -15.4% | |
| 2023 | 23 | +4.5% | |
| 2024 | 33 | +43.5% | |
| 2025* | 12 | — |
* Well below Deer Lodge'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 2 building fires Deer Lodge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 58 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 15.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 9 | 15.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 13.8% |
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 Deer Lodge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 37.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Deer Lodge departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Deer Lodge sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 267,457 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Natural | 62,034 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 46,681 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 37,405 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 18,222 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 17,118 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 12,457 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 10,791 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 8,300 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 7,209 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Firearms and explosives use | 5,019 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 4,400 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,982 | 46.9 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 | 59722 | 116 |
Six Montana cities with population within ±25% of Deer Lodge. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Deer Lodge.
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.