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2025 County Report

Fires in Cass County, ND

In 2025, fire departments serving Cass County responded to 963 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $2.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

179,469 residents FIPS 38017 51 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
963
5,641 across 5 years
Building fires
100
51 wildland
Property loss
$6.0M
$4.3M structure · $1.6M contents
Casualties
0 / 3
0 civ deaths · 3 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.

963
Total Incidents
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 274 28.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 109 11.3%
Building fires 100 10.4%
Carbon monoxide incident 49 5.1%
Passenger vehicle fire 47 4.9%
All other categories 384 39.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Cass County?

Aug peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 30
Feb 76
Mar 72
Apr 62
May 108
Jun 107
Jul 75
Aug 119
Sep 100
Oct 113
Nov 14
Dec 87
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Cass County

5,641 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,140
2022 1,186
2023 1,283
2024 1,069
2025 963
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 100 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
52%
129
Cause undetermined
15%
36
Intentional / arson
9%
21
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
36
Under investigation
4%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Cass County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 79% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $2,000,000 FARGO Accident, potential accident, other Major
2 $491,400 FARGO Building fires Major
3 $450,000 FARGO Building fires Major
4 $100,000 FARGO Building fires Significant
5 $75,000 FARGO Building fires Significant
6 $75,000 Oxbow Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
7 $64,000 FARGO Building fires Significant
8 $60,000 FARGO Building fires Significant
9 $60,000 FARGO Building fires Significant
10 $60,000 Horace Building fires Significant
06 How Cass County compares

Cass County vs ND vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

5.37
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Cass County
5.37
ND avg
7.91
US avg
7.15
0.56
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Cass County
0.56
ND avg
0.77
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Cass County
0
ND avg
11.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Cass County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 38017.

09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in ND

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Windy 2021 USFS 16,161
2 Elkhorn 2024 USFS 10,884
3 Pautre 2013 USFS 10,679
4 LITTLE SWALLOW 2021 BIA 9,057
5 BlackHorseCreek 2006 USFS 7,830
6 Mike'SCreek 1988 USFS 5,819
7 Hwy31 & 101ST West 2022 BIA 5,289
8 Horse Pasture 2021 USFS 4,647
9 Roosevelt Creek 2021 USFS 4,580
10 RidgeRoad 2015 USFS 3,328

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.