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2025 County Report

Fires in McLean County, ND

In 2025, fire departments serving McLean County responded to 81 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $35K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

5,980 residents FIPS 38055 18 cities · 1 fire depts
Total incidents
81
411 across 5 years
Building fires
8
30 wildland
Property loss
$142K
$121K structure · $21K contents
Casualties
1 / 0
1 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Grass fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.

81
Total Incidents
Grass fire 21 25.9%
Building fires 8 9.9%
Passenger vehicle fire 6 7.4%
Cultivated grain or crop fire 5 6.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 4 4.9%
All other categories 37 45.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in McLean County?

Jul peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 7
Feb 3
Mar 3
Apr 11
May 11
Jun 8
Jul 14
Aug 8
Sep 8
Oct 2
Nov 4
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in McLean County

411 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 120
2022 67
2023 78
2024 65
2025 81
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 8 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
55%
30
Cause undetermined
2%
1
Intentional / arson
5%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
25%
14
Under investigation
2%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
11%
6
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $120K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in McLean County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $35,000 Garrison Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
2 $30,000 Garrison Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
3 $20,000 Garrison Building fires Significant
4 $15,000 Garrison Building fires Significant
5 $10,000 Garrison Outside equipment fire Significant
6 $6,000 Garrison Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $1,000 Garrison Cooking fire, confined to container Significant
8 $1,000 MAX Fire, other Significant
9 $1,000 Garrison Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
10 $800 MercerTownship of Building fires Significant
06 How McLean County compares

McLean County vs ND vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.55
Incidents per 1,000 residents
McLean County
13.55
ND avg
7.91
US avg
7.15
1.34
Building fires per 1,000 residents
McLean County
1.34
ND avg
0.77
US avg
0.82
167.2
Civilian fire deaths per million
McLean County
167.2
ND avg
11.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in McLean County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 38055.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in McLean County

1 departments report from this county.

Wilton Fire Prot District
Wilton
FDID 28380 24 incidents 38 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in ND

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
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

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.