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 Garrison responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K 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 50% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
75 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $356K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | -55.0% | |
| 2023 | 19 | +111.1% | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 20 | — |
* Well below Garrison'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 Garrison departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | Outside area, other | 7 | 31.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 4.5% |
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 Garrison mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Munitions | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Garrison departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Garrison sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,165 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,800 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 1,764 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 1,500 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,240 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,100 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,008 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 44.3 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 | 58540 | 75 |
Six North Dakota cities with population within ±25% of Garrison. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Garrison.
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.