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2025 County Report

Fires in Potter County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Potter County responded to 6 fire and hazmat incidents. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

1,883 residents FIPS 46107 5 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
6
75 across 5 years
Building fires
0
1 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?

Fire, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.

6
Total Incidents
Fire, other 4 66.7%
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 1 16.7%
Grass fire 1 16.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Potter County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

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

Year over year in Potter County

75 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 20
2022 21
2023 16
2024 12
2025 6
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 0 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
25%
1
Cause undetermined
75%
3
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
06 How Potter County compares

Potter County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

3.19
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Potter County
3.19
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Potter County
0
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Potter County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Potter County

5 cities mapped to FIPS 46107.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Potter County

4 departments report from this county.

Hoven
Hoven
FDID 54002 5 incidents 30 vol
Gettysburg
Gettysburg
FDID 54001 4 incidents 34 vol
Lebanon
Lebanon
FDID 54003 0 incidents 15 vol
Tolstoy
Tolstoy
FDID 54004 0 incidents 14 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.