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2025 County Report

Fires in Mercer County, ND

In 2025, fire departments serving Mercer County responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $25K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

6,670 residents FIPS 38057 7 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
59
295 across 5 years
Building fires
11
19 wildland
Property loss
$53K
$31K structure · $22K 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 64% of all calls.

59
Total Incidents
Building fires 11 18.6%
Grass fire 11 18.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 7 11.9%
Passenger vehicle fire 6 10.2%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 3 5.1%
All other categories 21 35.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Mercer County?

May peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 6
Feb 4
Mar 3
Apr 8
May 13
Jun 2
Jul 8
Aug 5
Sep 4
Oct 0
Nov 3
Dec 3
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Mercer County

295 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 91
2022 45
2023 56
2024 44
2025 59
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 11 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
71%
17
Cause undetermined
8%
2
Intentional / arson
4%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
17%
4
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $31K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Mercer County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $25,000 Beulah Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
2 $3,500 Beulah Passenger vehicle fire Significant
3 $2,500 Beulah Building fires Significant
06 How Mercer County compares

Mercer County vs ND vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.85
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Mercer County
8.85
ND avg
7.91
US avg
7.15
1.65
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Mercer County
1.65
ND avg
0.77
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Mercer County
0
ND avg
11.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Mercer County

7 cities mapped to FIPS 38057.

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.