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 Sidney responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
296 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 93 | — | |
| 2022 | 49 | -47.3% | |
| 2023 | 47 | -4.1% | |
| 2024 | 51 | +8.5% | |
| 2025 | 56 | +9.8% |
For the 6 building fires Sidney departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 69 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 | 43 | 62.3% | |
| 2 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 10.1% |
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 Sidney mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 45 | 65.2% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sidney sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 91,800 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 51,627 | 7.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 7,979 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 7,816 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,907 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 3,317 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 3,164 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,883 | 42.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,464 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,192 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,011 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 600 | 43.2 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 | 59270 | 296 |
Six Montana cities with population within ±25% of Sidney. 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.