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 Lewistown responded to 79 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 57% of all calls.
Jul peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
449 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $513K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 114 | — | |
| 2022 | 94 | -17.5% | |
| 2023 | 72 | -23.4% | |
| 2024 | 90 | +25.0% | |
| 2025 | 79 | -12.2% |
For the 2 building fires Lewistown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 115 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 | 28 | 24.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 7 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 22.6% |
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 Lewistown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 15.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 15 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 9 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 19.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lewistown departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lewistown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 40,310 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5,642 | 16.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,217 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,680 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,939 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 2,900 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 2,800 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 2,000 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 1,968 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,470 | 10.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,400 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Other causes | 1,095 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,036 | 36.9 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 Montana cities with population within ±25% of Lewistown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lewistown.
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.