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2025 County Report

Fires in Hughes County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Hughes County responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $10K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

14,820 residents FIPS 46065 9 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
40
250 across 5 years
Building fires
5
4 wildland
Property loss
$46K
$35K structure · $11K 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 63% of all calls.

40
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 10 25.0%
Building fires 5 12.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 5 12.5%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 3 7.5%
Cooking fire, confined to container 2 5.0%
All other categories 15 37.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Hughes County?

Feb peaks. Mar dips.

Jan 4
Feb 7
Mar 1
Apr 1
May 6
Jun 1
Jul 7
Aug 1
Sep 4
Oct 3
Nov 3
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Hughes County

250 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 69
2022 50
2023 32
2024 59
2025 40
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 5 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
54%
7
Cause undetermined
23%
3
Intentional / arson
8%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
2
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

6 fires · $35K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Hughes County during 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $10,000 City of Pierre Building fires Significant
2 $10,000 City of Pierre Building fires Significant
3 $5,000 City of Pierre Passenger vehicle fire Significant
4 $5,000 City of Pierre Building fires Significant
5 $4,000 City of Pierre Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
6 $500 City of Pierre Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Hughes County compares

Hughes County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

2.7
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hughes County
2.7
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0.34
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hughes County
0.34
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hughes County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Hughes County

9 cities mapped to FIPS 46065.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Hughes County

4 departments report from this county.

Pierre Fire Department
Pierre
FDID 36004 30 incidents 2 paid 75 vol
Blunt
Blunt
FDID 36001 0 incidents 26 vol
Harrold
Harrold
FDID 36002 0 incidents 28 vol
Pierre Rural
Pierre
FDID 36003 0 incidents 25 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.