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2025 County Report

Fires in Brule County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Brule County responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $55K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

3,396 residents FIPS 46015 10 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
11
175 across 5 years
Building fires
2
0 wildland
Property loss
$170K
$85K structure · $85K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Road freight or transport vehicle fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.

11
Total Incidents
Road freight or transport vehicle fire 3 27.3%
Building fires 2 18.2%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 18.2%
Carbon monoxide incident 2 18.2%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1 9.1%
All other categories 1 9.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Brule County?

Feb peaks. Mar dips.

Jan 1
Feb 2
Mar 0
Apr 0
May 2
Jun 0
Jul 1
Aug 2
Sep 2
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Brule County

175 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 47
2022 44
2023 42
2024 31
2025 11
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 2 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
12%
1
Cause undetermined
38%
3
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
50%
4
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $85K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $55,000 Kimball Building fires Significant
2 $25,000 Kimball Passenger vehicle fire Significant
3 $5,000 PUKWANA Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
06 How Brule County compares

Brule County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

3.24
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Brule County
3.24
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0.59
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Brule County
0.59
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Brule County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Brule County

10 cities mapped to FIPS 46015.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Brule County

3 departments report from this county.

Kimball
Kimball
FDID 13002 8 incidents 33 vol
Pukwana
Pukwana
FDID 13003 3 incidents 38 vol
Chamberlain
Chamberlain
FDID 13001 1 incidents 33 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.