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2025 County Report

Fires in Hand County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Hand County responded to 9 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

1,590 residents FIPS 46059 10 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
9
79 across 5 years
Building fires
2
0 wildland
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 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 100% of all calls.

9
Total Incidents
Fire, other 2 22.2%
Building fires 2 22.2%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 2 22.2%
Power line down 2 22.2%
Road freight or transport vehicle fire 1 11.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Hand County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

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

Year over year in Hand County

79 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 22
2022 31
2023 7
2024 10
2025 9
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
75%
3
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
25%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
06 How Hand County compares

Hand County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

5.66
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hand County
5.66
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
1.26
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hand County
1.26
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hand County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Hand County

10 cities mapped to FIPS 46059.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Hand County

3 departments report from this county.

Miller
Miller
FDID 33001 9 incidents 39 vol
Ree Heights
Ree Heights
FDID 33002 0 incidents 26 vol
Polo
Polo
FDID 33004 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.