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 Lolo responded to 48 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 54% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
248 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | +45.5% | |
| 2023 | 67 | +39.6% | |
| 2024 | 52 | -22.4% | |
| 2025 | 48 | -7.7% |
For the 4 building fires Lolo departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 94 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 | Undetermined | 36 | 38.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 10 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 8.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 8.5% |
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 Lolo mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 27 | 28.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 17 | 18.1% | |
| 3 | Fireworks | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Lightning | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 12.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lolo departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lolo sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 721,935 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Natural | 147,529 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 53,902 | 10.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 42,694 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 36,388 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 36,045 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 34,552 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 33,948 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 30,580 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 26,310 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 25,873 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 25,680 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 25,202 | 21.4 mi |
Top 3 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 Lolo. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.