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 Thompson responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K 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 81% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
75 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $556K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | -12.5% | |
| 2023 | 17 | +21.4% | |
| 2024 | 12 | -29.4% | |
| 2025 | 16 | +33.3% |
For the 1 building fires Thompson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 39.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 4.3% |
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 Thompson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 34.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Thompson departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Thompson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,724 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,500 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 3,200 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,425 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,792 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,422 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 1,120 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 927 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 740 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 620 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 600 | 34.7 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 | 58278 | 75 |
Six North Dakota cities with population within ±25% of Thompson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Thompson.
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.