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 Mills responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 49% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
297 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $32K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 81 | — | |
| 2022 | 70 | -13.6% | |
| 2023 | 57 | -18.6% | |
| 2024 | 46 | -19.3% | |
| 2025 | 43 | -6.5% |
For the 5 building fires Mills departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 63 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 | 9 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 39.7% |
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 Mills mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 14 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 17.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mills sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 231,133 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Natural | 53,930 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 23,408 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 16,503 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,556 | 10.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 14,700 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 11,765 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 11,042 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,516 | 5.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 9,500 | 39.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 9,290 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 8,390 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 5,900 | 9.9 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 Wyoming cities with population within ±25% of Mills. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Mills.
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.