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2025 County Report

Fires in Richland County, ND

In 2025, fire departments serving Richland County responded to 117 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $150K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

11,657 residents FIPS 38077 30 cities · 2 fire depts
Total incidents
117
525 across 5 years
Building fires
9
20 wildland
Property loss
$160K
$160K 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 64% of all calls.

117
Total Incidents
Fire, other 37 31.6%
Grass fire 14 12.0%
Authorized controlled burning 10 8.5%
Building fires 9 7.7%
Outside rubbish fire, other 5 4.3%
All other categories 42 35.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Richland County?

Apr peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 3
Feb 7
Mar 7
Apr 24
May 12
Jun 12
Jul 7
Aug 10
Sep 7
Oct 11
Nov 16
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Richland County

525 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 107
2022 72
2023 105
2024 124
2025 117
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 9 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
76%
63
Cause undetermined
7%
6
Intentional / arson
5%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
7
Under investigation
2%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
1
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $160K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Richland County during 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $150,000 Fairmount Building fires Significant
2 $10,000 Colfax Fire, other Significant
06 How Richland County compares

Richland County vs ND vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

10.04
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Richland County
10.04
ND avg
7.91
US avg
7.15
0.77
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Richland County
0.77
ND avg
0.77
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Richland County
0
ND avg
11.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Richland County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 38077.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Richland County

2 departments report from this county.

Dwight Rural Fire Prot District
Wahpeton
FDID 39090 14 incidents
Mantador Fire Prot District
Mantador
FDID 39215 1 incidents 33 vol
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.