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2025 County Report

Fires in Charles Mix County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Charles Mix County responded to 48 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

4,675 residents FIPS 46023 14 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
48
359 across 5 years
Building fires
5
5 wildland
Property loss
$1.2M
$439K structure · $805K contents
Casualties
0 / 5
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 4 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.

48
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 7 14.6%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 6 12.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 6 12.5%
Building fires 5 10.4%
Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other 4 8.3%
All other categories 20 41.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Charles Mix County?

Jan peaks. Jul dips.

Jan 6
Feb 6
Mar 3
Apr 6
May 3
Jun 3
Jul 2
Aug 3
Sep 4
Oct 4
Nov 2
Dec 6
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Charles Mix County

359 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 124
2022 90
2023 45
2024 52
2025 48
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 5 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
40%
16
Cause undetermined
28%
11
Intentional / arson
15%
6
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
5
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
2
05 The biggest fires

9 fires · $439K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Charles Mix County during 2025. These 9 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Platte Building fires Major
2 $50,000 Geddes Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
3 $50,000 Pickstown Building fires Significant
4 $50,000 Lake Andes Building fires Significant
5 $25,000 Dante Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $10,000 Lake Andes Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
7 $2,000 Lake Andes Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
8 $1,000 Platte Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
9 $500 Lake Andes Building fires Significant
06 How Charles Mix County compares

Charles Mix County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

10.27
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Charles Mix County
10.27
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
1.07
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Charles Mix County
1.07
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Charles Mix County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Charles Mix County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 46023.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Charles Mix County

9 departments report from this county.

Lake Andes
Lake Andes
FDID 17006 18 incidents 15 vol
Platte
Platte
FDID 17003 12 incidents 34 vol
Ravinia
Ravinia
FDID 17008 11 incidents 15 vol
Wagner
Wagner
FDID 17001 10 incidents 25 vol
Geddes
Geddes
FDID 17005 3 incidents 26 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.