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 Vermillion responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Vermillion's departments reported 11 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 37 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
186 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $194K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | — | |
| 2022 | 32 | -45.8% | |
| 2023 | 54 | +68.8% | |
| 2024 | 30 | -44.4% | |
| 2025* | 11 | — |
* Well below Vermillion's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 5 building fires Vermillion departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 12.0% |
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 Vermillion mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 44.0% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Vermillion departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vermillion sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,647 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 35.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,400 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,200 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,125 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 870 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 800 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 700 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 600 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 560 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 550 | 27.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 31.4 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 | 57069 | 186 |
Six South Dakota cities with population within ±25% of Vermillion. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Vermillion.
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.