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 Polson responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $831K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
579 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 135 | — | |
| 2022 | 106 | -21.5% | |
| 2023 | 141 | +33.0% | |
| 2024 | 120 | -14.9% | |
| 2025 | 77 | -35.8% |
For the 9 building fires Polson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 159 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 | 22 | 13.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 11 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 9 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 37 | 23.3% |
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 Polson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 48 | 30.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 14 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 12 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 6.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 12.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Polson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $831,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Polson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 659,768 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 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 99,090 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 69,435 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 36,388 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 30,580 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 25,202 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 24,816 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 21,585 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 20,717 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 17,817 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 16,105 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 14,845 | 46.0 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 Polson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Polson.
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.