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2025 County Report

Fires in Custer County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Custer County responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $30K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

2,784 residents FIPS 46033 15 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
42
304 across 5 years
Building fires
10
19 wildland
Property loss
$43K
$35K structure · $8K 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.

42
Total Incidents
Building fires 10 23.8%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 10 23.8%
Grass fire 4 9.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 3 7.1%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 2 4.8%
All other categories 13 31.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Custer County?

Aug peaks. Mar dips.

Jan 5
Feb 1
Mar 0
Apr 1
May 6
Jun 2
Jul 0
Aug 12
Sep 4
Oct 0
Nov 5
Dec 6
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Custer County

304 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 72
2022 76
2023 48
2024 66
2025 42
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 10 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
30%
3
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
30%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
20%
2
Under investigation
10%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
10%
1
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $35K 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 $30,000 Custer Building fires Significant
2 $5,000 Hot Spriings Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
06 How Custer County compares

Custer County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

15.09
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Custer County
15.09
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
3.59
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Custer County
3.59
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Custer County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Custer County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 46033.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Custer County

10 departments report from this county.

Argyle
Argyle
FDID 21007 7 incidents 25 vol
Custer Volunteer Fire Departme
Custer
FDID 21001 1 incidents 44 vol
Pringle
Pringle
FDID 21002 0 incidents 24 vol
Buffalo Gap
Buffalo Gap
FDID 21003 0 incidents 1 paid 2 vol
Fairburn
Fairburn
FDID 21005 0 incidents 32 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.