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 Dickinson responded to 372 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,761 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $12.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 363 | — | |
| 2022 | 393 | +8.3% | |
| 2023 | 335 | -14.8% | |
| 2024 | 298 | -11.0% | |
| 2025 | 372 | +24.8% |
For the 19 building fires Dickinson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 392 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 72 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 65 | 16.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 57 | 14.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 37 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 25 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 12 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 8 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 8 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 84 | 21.4% |
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 Dickinson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 152 | 38.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 31 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 26 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 23 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 20 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 20 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 14 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 13 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 62 | 15.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dickinson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 78% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $175,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $62,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dickinson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 32,104 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,500 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,907 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,740 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,883 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,866 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 800 | 8.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 645 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 640 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 550 | 38.2 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six North Dakota cities with population within ±25% of Dickinson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Dickinson.
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.