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2025 County Report

Fires in Lincoln County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Lincoln County responded to 128 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $50K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

20,852 residents FIPS 46083 10 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
128
700 across 5 years
Building fires
11
8 wildland
Property loss
$97K
$75K structure · $22K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 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.

128
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 43 33.6%
Building fires 11 8.6%
Power line down 11 8.6%
Fire, other 10 7.8%
Passenger vehicle fire 6 4.7%
All other categories 47 36.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lincoln County?

Jun peaks. Aug dips.

Jan 9
Feb 13
Mar 13
Apr 5
May 7
Jun 19
Jul 12
Aug 4
Sep 9
Oct 16
Nov 10
Dec 11
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lincoln County

700 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 162
2022 177
2023 99
2024 134
2025 128
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
39%
13
Cause undetermined
36%
12
Intentional / arson
18%
6
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
2
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $75K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lincoln County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $50,000 Canton Fire, other Significant
2 $20,000 Tea Passenger vehicle fire Significant
3 $5,000 SIOUX FALLS Building fires Significant
06 How Lincoln County compares

Lincoln County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.14
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lincoln County
6.14
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0.53
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lincoln County
0.53
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lincoln County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lincoln County

10 cities mapped to FIPS 46083.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lincoln County

7 departments report from this county.

Harrisburg
Harrisburg
FDID 44003 36 incidents 35 vol
Tea
Tea
FDID 44006 32 incidents 27 vol
Canton
Canton
FDID 44001 30 incidents 35 vol
Lennox
Lennox
FDID 44005 21 incidents 30 vol
Worthing
Worthing
FDID 44007 15 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.