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.
MTWYIDND
In 2025, fire departments serving Ketchum responded to 64 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $954K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
307 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $11.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46 | — | |
| 2022 | 70 | +52.2% | |
| 2023 | 79 | +12.9% | |
| 2024 | 48 | -39.2% | |
| 2025 | 64 | +33.3% |
For the 5 building fires Ketchum departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 64 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 | 9 | 14.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Wall assembly | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Roof surface: exterior | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 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 Ketchum mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 15.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ketchum departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $954,465 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ketchum sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,031,271 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Natural | 178,459 | 44.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 149,250 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 111,497 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Firearms and explosives use | 64,763 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49,912 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 48,000 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 40,483 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 37,725 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 35,238 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 33,867 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 26,560 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 25,039 | 16.5 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 Idaho cities with population within ±25% of Ketchum. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ketchum.
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.