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 Piedmont responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
241 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42 | — | |
| 2022 | 62 | +47.6% | |
| 2023 | 34 | -45.2% | |
| 2024 | 53 | +55.9% | |
| 2025 | 50 | -5.7% |
For the 15 building fires Piedmont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 44 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 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 31.8% |
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 Piedmont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Piedmont departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Piedmont sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 355,936 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 83,508 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 61,416 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 54,023 | 31.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 33,000 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 14,990 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 12,443 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 11,740 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,589 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 9,886 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 7,462 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Other causes | 6,500 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 5,448 | 47.8 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 South Dakota cities with population within ±25% of Piedmont. 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.