In 2025, fire departments serving McKenzie County responded to 125 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips.
616 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 135 | |
| 2022 | 105 | |
| 2023 | 99 | |
| 2024 | 152 | |
| 2025 | 125 |
For the 10 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in McKenzie County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 96% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Alexander | Building fires | Significant |
| 2 | $150,000 | Watford City | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $50,000 | Arnegard | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 4 | $50,000 | Watford City | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant |
| 5 | $38,000 | Watford City | Outside storage fire | Significant |
| 6 | $35,000 | Watford City | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $25,000 | Arnegard | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant |
| 8 | $25,000 | Watford City | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 9 | $15,000 | Watford City | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $15,000 | Watford City | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 38053.
1 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 | Windy | 2021 | USFS | 16,161 |
| 2 | Elkhorn | 2024 | USFS | 10,884 |
| 3 | Pautre | 2013 | USFS | 10,679 |
| 4 | LITTLE SWALLOW | 2021 | BIA | 9,057 |
| 5 | BlackHorseCreek | 2006 | USFS | 7,830 |
| 6 | Mike'SCreek | 1988 | USFS | 5,819 |
| 7 | Hwy31 & 101ST West | 2022 | BIA | 5,289 |
| 8 | Horse Pasture | 2021 | USFS | 4,647 |
| 9 | Roosevelt Creek | 2021 | USFS | 4,580 |
| 10 | RidgeRoad | 2015 | USFS | 3,328 |
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.