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2025 County Report

Fires in Custer County, MT

In 2025, fire departments serving Custer County responded to 3 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $33K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

8,432 residents FIPS 30017 15 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
3
307 across 5 years
Building fires
0
1 wildland
Property loss
$58K
$48K structure · $10K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Fire, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.

3
Total Incidents
Fire, other 1 33.3%
Road freight or transport vehicle fire 1 33.3%
Grass fire 1 33.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Custer County?

Feb peaks. Jan dips.

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

Year over year in Custer County

307 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 64
2022 147
2023 88
2024 5
2025 3
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $48K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $33,000 MILES CITY Fire, other Significant
2 $15,000 MILES CITY Grass fire Significant
06 How Custer County compares

Custer County vs MT vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

0.36
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Custer County
0.36
MT avg
7.52
US avg
7.15
0
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Custer County
0
MT avg
0.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Custer County
0
MT avg
5.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Custer County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 30017.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Custer County

4 departments report from this county.

MCFR
Miles City
FDID 14001 0 incidents 14 paid
Miles City Rural Association
—
FDID 14002 0 incidents
Ismay Rural Fire District
Ismay
FDID 14031 0 incidents 10 vol
CUSTER COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 14099 0 incidents 15 paid
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MT

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Lodgepole Complex 2017 BLM 271,420
2 Derby 2006 USFS 207,237
3 Rice Ridge 2017 USFS 160,001
4 Pine Ridge Complex 2006 BLM 114,655
5 Dunn Mountain 2008 BLM 102,324
6 SartinDraw 2017 USFS 99,713
7 TaylorCreek 2012 USFS 62,148
8 Trail Creek 2021 USFS 62,012
9 Stag 2000 USFS 61,727
10 StormCreek 1988 USFS 58,721

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.