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2025 County Report

Fires in Beadle County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Beadle County responded to 102 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $400K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

15,807 residents FIPS 46005 15 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
102
488 across 5 years
Building fires
12
4 wildland
Property loss
$1.9M
$1.0M structure · $888K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.

102
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 33 32.4%
Power line down 14 13.7%
Building fires 12 11.8%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 6 5.9%
Passenger vehicle fire 5 4.9%
All other categories 32 31.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Beadle County?

Jul peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 8
Feb 8
Mar 13
Apr 1
May 9
Jun 9
Jul 18
Aug 12
Sep 15
Oct 2
Nov 7
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Beadle County

488 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 101
2022 110
2023 74
2024 101
2025 102
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 12 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
62%
23
Cause undetermined
19%
7
Intentional / arson
5%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
4
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.0M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Beadle County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 97% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $400,000 Huron Building fires Major
2 $150,000 Wolsey Building fires Significant
3 $150,000 Wolsey Building fires Significant
4 $100,000 Huron Building fires Significant
5 $65,000 Huron Building fires Significant
6 $50,000 Huron Building fires Significant
7 $30,000 Hitchcock Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other Significant
8 $30,000 Hitchcock Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other Significant
9 $25,000 Huron Building fires Significant
10 $15,000 Huron Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
06 How Beadle County compares

Beadle County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.45
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Beadle County
6.45
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0.76
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Beadle County
0.76
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Beadle County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Beadle County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 46005.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Beadle County

6 departments report from this county.

Huron
Huron
FDID 04101 80 incidents 9 paid 23 vol
Huron Rural
Huron Rural
FDID 04006 8 incidents 32 vol
Hitchcock
Hitchcock
FDID 04001 5 incidents 24 vol
Wolsey
Wolsey
FDID 04003 5 incidents 28 vol
Cavour
Cavour
FDID 04005 3 incidents 14 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in SD

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Jasper 2000 NPS 82,295
2 Cottonwood CA 2016 USFS 41,370
3 Power Dam Road 2024 BIA 15,319
4 INDIAN CANYON 2016 USFS 14,297
5 Casino 2022 BIA 12,636
6 Myrtle 2012 NPS 9,944
7 Turkey Day 2022 BIA 5,945
8 Cold Brook WF 2015 NPS 5,444
9 SHIRTTAIL 1991 NPS 3,750
10 BENT RIM 2020 BIA 3,625

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.