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2025 County Report

Fires in Mellette County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Mellette County responded to 3 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

1,283 residents FIPS 46095 8 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
3
56 across 5 years
Building fires
1
0 wildland
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 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 100% of all calls.

3
Total Incidents
Building fires 1 33.3%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1 33.3%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 1 33.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Mellette County?

Jan peaks. Feb dips.

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

Year over year in Mellette County

56 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 22
2022 12
2023 6
2024 13
2025 3
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 1 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
0%
0
Cause undetermined
50%
1
Intentional / arson
50%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
06 How Mellette County compares

Mellette County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

2.34
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Mellette County
2.34
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0.78
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Mellette County
0.78
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Mellette County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Mellette County

8 cities mapped to FIPS 46095.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Mellette County

3 departments report from this county.

White River
White River
FDID 50002 2 incidents 50 vol
Norris
Norris
FDID 50001 0 incidents 6 vol
Wood
Wood
FDID 50003 0 incidents 16 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.