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2025 County Report

Fires in Fall River County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Fall River County responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $30K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

4,693 residents FIPS 46047 19 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
14
75 across 5 years
Building fires
1
3 wildland
Property loss
$61K
$60K structure · $500 contents
Casualties
1 / 0
1 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 78% of all calls.

14
Total Incidents
Fire, other 4 28.6%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 3 21.4%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 2 14.3%
Building fires 1 7.1%
Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other 1 7.1%
All other categories 3 21.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Fall River County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

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

Year over year in Fall River County

75 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 15
2022 11
2023 17
2024 18
2025 14
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 1 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
14%
1
Cause undetermined
29%
2
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
43%
3
Under investigation
14%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $60K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $30,000 oelrichs Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
2 $30,000 Oelrichs Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Fall River County compares

Fall River County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

2.98
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Fall River County
2.98
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0.21
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Fall River County
0.21
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
213.1
Civilian fire deaths per million
Fall River County
213.1
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Fall River County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 46047.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Fall River County

8 departments report from this county.

Hot Springs
Hot Springs
FDID 27003 11 incidents 37 vol
Oelrichs
Oelrichs
FDID 27004 1 incidents 35 vol
Ardmore
Ardmore
FDID 27001 0 incidents 22 vol
Edgemont
Edgemont
FDID 27002 0 incidents 29 vol
Oral
Oral
FDID 27005 0 incidents 22 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.