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2025 County Report

Fires in Cavalier County, ND

In 2025, fire departments serving Cavalier County responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

2,410 residents FIPS 38019 22 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
16
115 across 5 years
Building fires
4
2 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?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.

16
Total Incidents
Building fires 4 25.0%
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 2 12.5%
Natural vegetation fire, other 2 12.5%
Outside equipment fire 2 12.5%
Fires in structures other than in a building 1 6.2%
All other categories 5 31.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Cavalier County?

Nov peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 0
Feb 1
Mar 1
Apr 1
May 1
Jun 1
Jul 2
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 1
Nov 7
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Cavalier County

115 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 33
2022 21
2023 23
2024 22
2025 16
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 4 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
58%
7
Cause undetermined
17%
2
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
17%
2
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
8%
1
06 How Cavalier County compares

Cavalier County vs ND vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.64
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Cavalier County
6.64
ND avg
7.91
US avg
7.15
1.66
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Cavalier County
1.66
ND avg
0.77
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Cavalier County
0
ND avg
11.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Cavalier County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 38019.

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.