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 Rock Springs responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $225K 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 53% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
704 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 173 | — | |
| 2022 | 178 | +2.9% | |
| 2023 | 139 | -21.9% | |
| 2024 | 128 | -7.9% | |
| 2025 | 86 | -32.8% |
For the 12 building fires Rock Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 290 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 | 47 | 16.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 44 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 27 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 26 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 17 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 79 | 27.2% |
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 Rock Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 71 | 24.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 29 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 25 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 20 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 17 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 16 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 15 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 61 | 21.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rock Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $225,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rock Springs sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 152,678 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 36,700 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 36,645 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20,038 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 13,200 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 13,198 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 7,632 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 4,341 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,116 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 2,550 | 4.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,487 | 23.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 1,784 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Fireworks | 1,377 | 21.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 82901 | 704 |
Six Wyoming cities with population within ±25% of Rock Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rock Springs.
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.