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2025 County Report

Fires in Powell County, MT

In 2025, fire departments serving Powell County responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $300K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

3,668 residents FIPS 30077 17 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
12
116 across 5 years
Building fires
2
1 wildland
Property loss
$416K
$311K structure · $105K 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 67% of all calls.

12
Total Incidents
Building fires 2 16.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 2 16.7%
Power line down 2 16.7%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 1 8.3%
Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence 1 8.3%
All other categories 4 33.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Powell County?

Apr peaks. Jun dips.

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

Year over year in Powell County

116 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 26
2022 22
2023 23
2024 33
2025 12
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 2 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
75%
3
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
25%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

4 fires · $311K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Powell County during 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $300,000 Deer Lodge Building fires Major
2 $10,000 Deer Lodge Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
3 $500 Deer Lodge Building fires Significant
4 $500 Deer Lodge Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
06 How Powell County compares

Powell County vs MT vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

3.27
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Powell County
3.27
MT avg
7.52
US avg
7.15
0.55
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Powell County
0.55
MT avg
0.62
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Powell County
0
MT avg
5.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Powell County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 30077.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Powell County

9 departments report from this county.

Deer Lodge VFD
Deer Lodge
FDID 28001 12 incidents 27 vol
Racetrack Valley RFD
Deer Lodge
FDID 28011 0 incidents 28 vol
Avon VFC
—
FDID 28012 0 incidents
Elliston VFC
—
FDID 28031 0 incidents
Garrison RFD
—
FDID 28032 0 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MT

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Lodgepole Complex 2017 BLM 271,420
2 Derby 2006 USFS 207,237
3 Rice Ridge 2017 USFS 160,001
4 Pine Ridge Complex 2006 BLM 114,655
5 Dunn Mountain 2008 BLM 102,324
6 SartinDraw 2017 USFS 99,713
7 TaylorCreek 2012 USFS 62,148
8 Trail Creek 2021 USFS 62,012
9 Stag 2000 USFS 61,727
10 StormCreek 1988 USFS 58,721

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.