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2025 County Report

Fires in Clearwater County, ID

In 2025, fire departments serving Clearwater County responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $50K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

4,172 residents FIPS 16035 29 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
25
172 across 5 years
Building fires
3
4 wildland
Property loss
$196K
$183K structure · $13K 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 48% of all calls.

25
Total Incidents
Building fires 3 12.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 12.0%
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 2 8.0%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 8.0%
Natural vegetation fire, other 2 8.0%
All other categories 13 52.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Clearwater County?

Jan peaks. Apr dips.

Jan 4
Feb 3
Mar 4
Apr 0
May 4
Jun 1
Jul 1
Aug 0
Sep 3
Oct 2
Nov 0
Dec 3
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Clearwater County

172 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 53
2022 30
2023 28
2024 36
2025 25
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 3 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
75%
6
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
25%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

7 fires · $183K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Clearwater County during 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $50,000 Orofino Building fires Significant
2 $50,000 Orofino Building fires Significant
3 $50,000 Orofino Building fires Significant
4 $10,000 Orofino Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
5 $10,000 Orofino Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
6 $8,000 GREER Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $5,000 OROFINO Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Clearwater County compares

Clearwater County vs ID vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

5.99
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Clearwater County
5.99
ID avg
8.41
US avg
7.15
0.72
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Clearwater County
0.72
ID avg
0.8
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Clearwater County
0
ID avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Clearwater County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 16035.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Clearwater County

9 departments report from this county.

Orofino Fire Department
Orofino
FDID 35303 27 incidents 1 paid
Sunnyside Rural Fire District
Lenore
FDID 35338 2 incidents 20 vol
Twin Ridge Rural Fire District
Orofino
FDID 35305 1 incidents 25 vol
Elk River Volunteer Fire Dept
Elk River
FDID 35301 0 incidents
Pierce Volunteer Fire Departme
Pierce
FDID 35309 0 incidents 10 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in ID

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Elk Mountain 2007 BLM 578,403
2 LONG BUTTE 2010 BLM 305,994
3 Mustang Complex 2012 USFS 287,852
4 SODA 2015 BLM 279,111
5 Diamond Pt Complex 2000 USFS 234,315
6 Pioneer 2016 USFS 188,404
7 PADDOCK 2024 BLM 187,184
8 Halstead 2012 USFS 179,308
9 Clear Creek 2000 USFS 164,755
10 Moose 2022 USFS 130,197

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.