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2025 County Report

Fires in McCook County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving McCook County responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

3,036 residents FIPS 46087 9 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
32
127 across 5 years
Building fires
5
4 wildland
Property loss
$263K
$143K structure · $120K 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 72% of all calls.

32
Total Incidents
Fire, other 6 18.8%
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 6 18.8%
Building fires 5 15.6%
Grass fire 4 12.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 2 6.2%
All other categories 9 28.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in McCook County?

Oct peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 1
Feb 2
Mar 2
Apr 2
May 3
Jun 0
Jul 2
Aug 2
Sep 5
Oct 9
Nov 1
Dec 3
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in McCook County

127 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 22
2022 24
2023 19
2024 30
2025 32
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
23%
3
Cause undetermined
31%
4
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
38%
5
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
8%
1
05 The biggest fires

4 fires · $143K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in McCook County during 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $100,000 Canistota Building fires Significant
2 $20,000 Canistota Building fires Significant
3 $20,000 Bridgewater Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
4 $3,000 Canistota Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
06 How McCook County compares

McCook County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

10.54
Incidents per 1,000 residents
McCook County
10.54
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
1.65
Building fires per 1,000 residents
McCook County
1.65
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
McCook County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in McCook County

9 cities mapped to FIPS 46087.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in McCook County

6 departments report from this county.

Montrose
Montrose
FDID 46005 12 incidents 23 vol
Salem
Salem
FDID 46001 11 incidents 30 vol
Bridgewater
Bridgewater
FDID 46003 6 incidents 25 vol
Spencer
Spencer
FDID 46002 2 incidents 26 vol
Canistota
Canistota
FDID 46004 1 incidents 20 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.