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2025 County Report

Fires in Deer Lodge County, MT

In 2025, fire departments serving Deer Lodge County responded to 75 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $300K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

9,435 residents FIPS 30023 15 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
75
330 across 5 years
Building fires
8
2 wildland
Property loss
$927K
$682K structure · $245K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.

75
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 26 34.7%
Carbon monoxide incident 12 16.0%
Building fires 8 10.7%
Passenger vehicle fire 5 6.7%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 4 5.3%
All other categories 20 26.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Deer Lodge County?

Jan peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 11
Feb 7
Mar 6
Apr 7
May 4
Jun 5
Jul 9
Aug 7
Sep 4
Oct 4
Nov 9
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Deer Lodge County

330 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 67
2022 69
2023 59
2024 60
2025 75
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
62%
10
Cause undetermined
19%
3
Intentional / arson
12%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

8 fires · $682K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Deer Lodge County during 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $300,000 Anaconda Building fires Major
2 $200,000 Anaconda Building fires Significant
3 $150,000 Anaconda Building fires Significant
4 $30,000 Anaconda Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $1,000 ANACONDA Building fires Significant
6 $500 ANACONDA Building fires Significant
7 $500 ANACONDA Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
8 $200 ANACONDA Trash or rubbish fire, contained Significant
06 How Deer Lodge County compares

Deer Lodge County vs MT vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

7.95
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Deer Lodge County
7.95
MT avg
7.52
US avg
7.15
0.85
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Deer Lodge County
0.85
MT avg
0.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Deer Lodge County
0
MT avg
5.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Deer Lodge County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 30023.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Deer Lodge County

6 departments report from this county.

Anaconda Fire Department
Anaconda
FDID 30001 61 incidents 5 paid
Lost Creek Antelope RFD
—
FDID 30002 0 incidents 1 vol
Opportunity RFD
—
FDID 30011 0 incidents
West Valley RFD
—
FDID 30012 0 incidents 1 vol
Warm Springs VFC
—
FDID 30091 0 incidents 1 vol
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.