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 Townsend responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 49% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
169 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $366K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 51 | +41.7% | |
| 2023 | 25 | -51.0% | |
| 2024 | 22 | -12.0% | |
| 2025 | 35 | +59.1% |
For the 3 building fires Townsend departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 80 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 | 14 | 17.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 26.2% |
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 Townsend mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 27.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 16 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 18.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Townsend departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Townsend sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 276,971 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 81,220 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 46,298 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 30,000 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Fireworks | 15,341 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 15,000 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 12,457 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 8,721 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,300 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 8,224 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 7,090 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 5,157 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Firearms and explosives use | 5,019 | 36.7 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 | 59644 | 169 |
Six Montana cities with population within ±25% of Townsend. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Townsend.
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.