In 2025, fire departments serving Benewah County responded to 70 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $150K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 39% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips.
497 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 98 | |
| 2022 | 78 | |
| 2023 | 121 | |
| 2024 | 130 | |
| 2025 | 70 |
For the 5 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Benewah County during 2025. These 9 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | plummer | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 2 | $100,000 | PLUMMER | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $75,000 | St Maries | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 4 | $35,000 | Saint MariesCCD | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 5 | $25,000 | St Maries | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant |
| 6 | $3,500 | Santa | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 7 | $2,000 | Saint Maries | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $500 | Fernwood | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 9 | $500 | St Maries | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 16009.
5 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elk Mountain | 2007 | BLM | 578,403 |
| 2 | LONG BUTTE | 2010 | BLM | 305,994 |
| 3 | Mustang Complex | 2012 | USFS | 287,852 |
| 4 | SODA | 2015 | BLM | 279,111 |
| 5 | Diamond Pt Complex | 2000 | USFS | 234,315 |
| 6 | Pioneer | 2016 | USFS | 188,404 |
| 7 | PADDOCK | 2024 | BLM | 187,184 |
| 8 | Halstead | 2012 | USFS | 179,308 |
| 9 | Clear Creek | 2000 | USFS | 164,755 |
| 10 | Moose | 2022 | USFS | 130,197 |
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.