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2025 County Report

Fires in Brookings County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Brookings County responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $300K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

28,773 residents FIPS 46011 15 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
43
499 across 5 years
Building fires
15
4 wildland
Property loss
$1.9M
$381K structure · $1.6M contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.

43
Total Incidents
Building fires 15 34.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 5 11.6%
Grass fire 3 7.0%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 3 7.0%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 3 7.0%
All other categories 14 32.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Brookings County?

Nov peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 5
Feb 1
Mar 2
Apr 5
May 4
Jun 5
Jul 3
Aug 3
Sep 4
Oct 3
Nov 7
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Brookings County

499 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 128
2022 137
2023 81
2024 110
2025 43
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 15 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
38%
3
Cause undetermined
12%
1
Intentional / arson
12%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
25%
2
Under investigation
12%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $381K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Brookings County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $300,000 Volga Building fires Major
2 $80,000 Volga Building fires Significant
3 $1,000 Volga Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
06 How Brookings County compares

Brookings County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

1.49
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Brookings County
1.49
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0.52
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Brookings County
0.52
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Brookings County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Brookings County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 46011.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Brookings County

7 departments report from this county.

Volga
Volga
FDID 06003 26 incidents 28 vol
Aurora
Aurora
FDID 06005 7 incidents 20 vol
Sinai
Sinai
FDID 06002 6 incidents 21 vol
Bruce
Bruce
FDID 06008 6 incidents 23 vol
Brookings
Brookings
FDID 06001 0 incidents 2 paid
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.