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2025 County Report

Fires in Clay County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Clay County responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $15K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

12,169 residents FIPS 46027 11 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
17
221 across 5 years
Building fires
8
2 wildland
Property loss
$25K
$15K structure · $10K 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 77% of all calls.

17
Total Incidents
Building fires 8 47.1%
Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other 2 11.8%
Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence 1 5.9%
Passenger vehicle fire 1 5.9%
Cultivated grain or crop fire 1 5.9%
All other categories 4 23.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Clay County?

Jan peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 4
Feb 2
Mar 1
Apr 1
May 2
Jun 0
Jul 1
Aug 4
Sep 0
Oct 2
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Clay County

221 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 67
2022 43
2023 61
2024 33
2025 17
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 8 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
67%
2
Cause undetermined
33%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $15K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Clay County during 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $15,000 Vermillion Building fires Significant
2 $100 Vermillion Building fires Significant
06 How Clay County compares

Clay County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

1.4
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Clay County
1.4
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0.66
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Clay County
0.66
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Clay County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Clay County

11 cities mapped to FIPS 46027.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Clay County

3 departments report from this county.

Irene
Irene
FDID 19002 10 incidents 25 vol
Vermillion
Vermillion
FDID 19001 4 incidents 1 paid 42 vol
Wakonda
Wakonda
FDID 19003 0 incidents 27 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.