In 2025, fire departments serving Lake County responded to 143 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $831K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
May peaks. Nov dips.
1,276 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 290 | |
| 2022 | 255 | |
| 2023 | 256 | |
| 2024 | 332 | |
| 2025 | 143 |
For the 17 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Lake County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $831,000 | Polson | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $700,000 | Big Arm | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $500,000 | POLSON | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $350,000 | Polson | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $150,000 | Big Arm | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 6 | $130,000 | Polson | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $75,000 | Polson | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $60,000 | Polson | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $50,000 | POLSON | Outside equipment fire | Significant |
| 10 | $50,000 | Polson | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 30047.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Polson | 5,218 | View › |
| Ronan | 1,868 | View › |
| Pablo | 1,799 | View › |
| St. Ignatius | 1,019 | View › |
| Woods Bay | 737 | View › |
| Arlee | 693 | View › |
| Lindisfarne | 495 | View › |
| Finley Point | 460 | View › |
| Charlo | 356 | View › |
| Kings Point | 301 | View › |
| Bear Dance | 241 | View › |
| Kerr | 232 | View › |
16 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lodgepole Complex | 2017 | BLM | 271,420 |
| 2 | Derby | 2006 | USFS | 207,237 |
| 3 | Rice Ridge | 2017 | USFS | 160,001 |
| 4 | Pine Ridge Complex | 2006 | BLM | 114,655 |
| 5 | Dunn Mountain | 2008 | BLM | 102,324 |
| 6 | SartinDraw | 2017 | USFS | 99,713 |
| 7 | TaylorCreek | 2012 | USFS | 62,148 |
| 8 | Trail Creek | 2021 | USFS | 62,012 |
| 9 | Stag | 2000 | USFS | 61,727 |
| 10 | StormCreek | 1988 | USFS | 58,721 |
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.