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 Devils Lake responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
401 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $263K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107 | — | |
| 2022 | 87 | -18.7% | |
| 2023 | 76 | -12.6% | |
| 2024 | 68 | -10.5% | |
| 2025 | 63 | -7.4% |
For the 5 building fires Devils Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 194 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 53 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 31 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 26 | 13.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Other | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 33 | 17.0% |
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 Devils Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 76 | 39.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Fireworks | 12 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 16.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Devils Lake departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $300 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Devils Lake sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,786 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 2,500 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,772 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1,600 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1,440 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,303 | 13.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,190 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,081 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 700 | 46.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 660 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 640 | 18.1 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 | 58301 | 401 |
Six North Dakota cities with population within ±25% of Devils Lake. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Devils Lake.
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.