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2025 County Report

Fires in Minnehaha County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Minnehaha County responded to 1,202 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $3.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

219,961 residents FIPS 46099 26 cities · 14 fire depts
Total incidents
1,202
5,873 across 5 years
Building fires
124
100 wildland
Property loss
$13.8M
$9.5M structure · $4.3M contents
Casualties
1 / 13
1 civ deaths · 7 civ inj · 6 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.

1,202
Total Incidents
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 169 14.1%
Unauthorized burning 143 11.9%
Building fires 124 10.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 92 7.7%
Power line down 88 7.3%
All other categories 586 48.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Minnehaha County?

Jul peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 89
Feb 85
Mar 114
Apr 129
May 128
Jun 83
Jul 162
Aug 85
Sep 100
Oct 82
Nov 96
Dec 49
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Minnehaha County

5,873 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,036
2022 1,479
2023 1,210
2024 946
2025 1,202
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 124 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
42%
98
Cause undetermined
22%
51
Intentional / arson
10%
24
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
27
Under investigation
3%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
11%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $6.9M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Minnehaha County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 73% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $3,000,000 SIOUX FALLS Building fires Major
2 $1,267,067 SIOUX FALLS Building fires Major
3 $798,636 SIOUX FALLS Building fires Major
4 $750,000 SIOUX FALLS Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
5 $288,047 SIOUX FALLS Building fires Major
6 $200,000 SIOUX FALLS Building fires Significant
7 $173,790 SIOUX FALLS Building fires Significant
8 $150,000 Brandon Building fires Significant
9 $146,797 SIOUX FALLS Building fires Significant
10 $144,961 SIOUX FALLS Building fires Significant
06 How Minnehaha County compares

Minnehaha County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

5.46
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Minnehaha County
5.46
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0.56
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Minnehaha County
0.56
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
4.5
Civilian fire deaths per million
Minnehaha County
4.5
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Minnehaha County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 46099.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Minnehaha County

14 departments report from this county.

Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls
FDID 01101 1,043 incidents 171 paid
Brandon
Brandon
FDID 01005 62 incidents 34 vol
Hartford Fire Rescue Departm
Hartford
FDID 01004 23 incidents
Renner
Renner
FDID 01001 20 incidents 38 vol
Lyons
Lyons
FDID 01012 17 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.