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 New Salem responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
101 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | -35.5% | |
| 2023 | 13 | -35.0% | |
| 2024 | 21 | +61.5% | |
| 2025 | 16 | -23.8% |
For the 3 building fires New Salem departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 73 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 21.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 20.5% |
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 New Salem mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 30.1% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 14 | 19.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 8.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Salem departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,800 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Salem sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 40,406 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 6,000 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 4,045 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,896 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 2,554 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 2,160 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,900 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 1,764 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 1,500 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,280 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,241 | 45.9 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 North Dakota cities with population within ±25% of New Salem. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in New Salem.
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.