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2025 County Report

Fires in Divide County, ND

In 2025, fire departments serving Divide County responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $550K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

1,330 residents FIPS 38023 11 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
15
83 across 5 years
Building fires
2
4 wildland
Property loss
$826K
$825K structure · $500 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.

15
Total Incidents
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 4 26.7%
Grass fire 3 20.0%
Building fires 2 13.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 13.3%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 1 6.7%
All other categories 3 20.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Divide County?

Jul peaks. Feb dips.

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

Year over year in Divide County

83 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 12
2022 11
2023 22
2024 23
2025 15
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 2 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
86%
12
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
1
Under investigation
7%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $825K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Divide County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $550,000 Noonan Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
2 $200,000 AMBROSE Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
3 $75,000 Crosby Building fires Significant
06 How Divide County compares

Divide County vs ND vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.28
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Divide County
11.28
ND avg
7.91
US avg
7.15
1.5
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Divide County
1.5
ND avg
0.77
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Divide County
0
ND avg
11.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Divide County

11 cities mapped to FIPS 38023.

09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in ND

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Windy 2021 USFS 16,161
2 Elkhorn 2024 USFS 10,884
3 Pautre 2013 USFS 10,679
4 LITTLE SWALLOW 2021 BIA 9,057
5 BlackHorseCreek 2006 USFS 7,830
6 Mike'SCreek 1988 USFS 5,819
7 Hwy31 & 101ST West 2022 BIA 5,289
8 Horse Pasture 2021 USFS 4,647
9 Roosevelt Creek 2021 USFS 4,580
10 RidgeRoad 2015 USFS 3,328

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.