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 Rupert responded to 96 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $715K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
408 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 82 | — | |
| 2022 | 92 | +12.2% | |
| 2023 | 64 | -30.4% | |
| 2024 | 74 | +15.6% | |
| 2025 | 96 | +29.7% |
For the 9 building fires Rupert departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 119 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 | Undetermined | 21 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 9 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 24.4% |
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 Rupert mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 48 | 40.3% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rupert departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $715,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $244,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rupert sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,846,547 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 220,042 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 206,202 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 178,459 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 149,250 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 140,954 | 23.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 132,208 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90,143 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 88,909 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 72,361 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55,529 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 53,605 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49,912 | 47.5 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 Idaho cities with population within ±25% of Rupert. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rupert.
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.