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2025 County Report

Fires in Lincoln County, MT

In 2025, fire departments serving Lincoln County responded to 114 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

9,198 residents FIPS 30053 23 cities · 13 fire depts
Total incidents
114
553 across 5 years
Building fires
11
34 wildland
Property loss
$2.6M
$2.2M structure · $480K contents
Casualties
1 / 0
1 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.

114
Total Incidents
Power line down 30 26.3%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 16 14.0%
Grass fire 13 11.4%
Building fires 11 9.6%
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 7 6.1%
All other categories 37 32.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lincoln County?

Dec peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 5
Feb 5
Mar 6
Apr 8
May 6
Jun 7
Jul 14
Aug 14
Sep 8
Oct 8
Nov 6
Dec 27
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lincoln County

553 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 136
2022 109
2023 112
2024 82
2025 114
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 11 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
60%
24
Cause undetermined
15%
6
Intentional / arson
5%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
3
Under investigation
12%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

9 fires · $2.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lincoln County during 2025. These 9 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 Libby Building fires Major
2 $500,000 Eureka Building fires Major
3 $250,000 Rexford Building fires Major
4 $150,000 Libby Building fires Significant
5 $125,000 Eureka Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
6 $90,000 Eureka Building fires Significant
7 $30,000 Eureka Building fires Significant
8 $10,000 Eureka Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $1,500 TROY Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Lincoln County compares

Lincoln County vs MT vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

12.39
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lincoln County
12.39
MT avg
7.52
US avg
7.15
1.2
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lincoln County
1.2
MT avg
0.62
US avg
0.82
108.7
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lincoln County
108.7
MT avg
5.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lincoln County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 30053.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lincoln County

13 departments report from this county.

Lincoln County RFD
—
FDID 56011 30 incidents
Fisher River VFC
Libby
FDID 56013 14 incidents 21 vol
Libby VFD
—
FDID 56010 11 incidents
City of Libby VFD
—
FDID 56001 10 incidents 2 vol
Eureka VFD
—
FDID 56002 6 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MT

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
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

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.