Home› Counties› MT› Big Horn County
2025 County Report

Fires in Big Horn County, MT

In 2025, fire departments serving Big Horn County responded to 41 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

8,446 residents FIPS 30003 23 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
41
355 across 5 years
Building fires
3
12 wildland
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.

41
Total Incidents
Grass fire 7 17.1%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 7 17.1%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 4 9.8%
Building fires 3 7.3%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 3 7.3%
All other categories 17 41.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Big Horn County?

Jul peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 4
Feb 7
Mar 5
Apr 3
May 3
Jun 6
Jul 9
Aug 1
Sep 3
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Big Horn County

355 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 96
2022 107
2023 59
2024 52
2025 41
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 3 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
36%
8
Cause undetermined
36%
8
Intentional / arson
5%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
2
Under investigation
9%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
1
06 How Big Horn County compares

Big Horn County vs MT vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

4.85
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Big Horn County
4.85
MT avg
7.52
US avg
7.15
0.36
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Big Horn County
0.36
MT avg
0.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Big Horn County
0
MT avg
5.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Big Horn County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 30003.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Big Horn County

7 departments report from this county.

Big Horn County VFC
—
FDID 22003 21 incidents
Hardin VFD
Hardin
FDID 22001 17 incidents 23 vol
Lodge Grass VFD
—
FDID 22002 0 incidents
Busby RFD
—
FDID 22021 0 incidents
Crow Agency VFC
—
FDID 22071 0 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MT

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Lodgepole Complex 2017 BLM 271,420
2 Derby 2006 USFS 207,237
3 Rice Ridge 2017 USFS 160,001
4 Pine Ridge Complex 2006 BLM 114,655
5 Dunn Mountain 2008 BLM 102,324
6 SartinDraw 2017 USFS 99,713
7 TaylorCreek 2012 USFS 62,148
8 Trail Creek 2021 USFS 62,012
9 Stag 2000 USFS 61,727
10 StormCreek 1988 USFS 58,721

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.