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2025 County Report

Fires in McPherson County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving McPherson County responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $50K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

1,452 residents FIPS 46089 10 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
11
80 across 5 years
Building fires
3
2 wildland
Property loss
$95K
$65K structure · $30K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.

11
Total Incidents
Building fires 3 27.3%
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 2 18.2%
Fire, other 1 9.1%
Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other 1 9.1%
Grass fire 1 9.1%
All other categories 3 27.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in McPherson County?

Jan peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 4
Feb 0
Mar 0
Apr 0
May 0
Jun 2
Jul 1
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 4
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in McPherson County

80 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 28
2022 11
2023 8
2024 22
2025 11
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 3 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
4
Cause undetermined
12%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
25%
2
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
13%
1
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $65K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in McPherson County during 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $50,000 Eureka Building fires Significant
2 $15,000 Eureka Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
06 How McPherson County compares

McPherson County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

7.58
Incidents per 1,000 residents
McPherson County
7.58
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
2.07
Building fires per 1,000 residents
McPherson County
2.07
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
McPherson County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in McPherson County

10 cities mapped to FIPS 46089.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in McPherson County

3 departments report from this county.

Eureka
Eureka
FDID 47001 6 incidents 23 vol
Leola
Leola
FDID 47002 2 incidents 26 vol
Long Lake
Long Lake
FDID 47003 0 incidents 23 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.