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2025 County Report

Fires in Emmons County, ND

In 2025, fire departments serving Emmons County responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $81K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

1,734 residents FIPS 38029 12 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
21
148 across 5 years
Building fires
3
6 wildland
Property loss
$89K
$86K structure · $3K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.

21
Total Incidents
Natural vegetation fire, other 4 19.0%
Cultivated grain or crop fire 4 19.0%
Building fires 3 14.3%
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 2 9.5%
Grass fire 2 9.5%
All other categories 6 28.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Emmons County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 1
Feb 3
Mar 5
Apr 1
May 3
Jun 3
Jul 2
Aug 1
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 2
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Emmons County

148 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 42
2022 25
2023 24
2024 36
2025 21
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
64%
9
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
7%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
21%
3
Under investigation
7%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $86K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $81,000 Strasburg Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
2 $5,000 kintyre Trash or rubbish fire, contained Significant
06 How Emmons County compares

Emmons County vs ND vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

12.11
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Emmons County
12.11
ND avg
7.91
US avg
7.15
1.73
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Emmons County
1.73
ND avg
0.77
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Emmons County
0
ND avg
11.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Emmons County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 38029.

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.