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2025 County Report

Fires in Steele County, ND

In 2025, fire departments serving Steele County responded to 8 fire and hazmat incidents.

705 residents FIPS 38091 8 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
8
53 across 5 years
Building fires
3
2 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?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.

8
Total Incidents
Building fires 3 37.5%
Grass fire 2 25.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 2 25.0%
Fires in structures other than in a building 1 12.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Steele County?

Mar peaks. Jan dips.

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

Year over year in Steele County

53 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 8
2022 17
2023 13
2024 7
2025 8
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 3 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
67%
4
Cause undetermined
17%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
17%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
06 How Steele County compares

Steele County vs ND vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.35
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Steele County
11.35
ND avg
7.91
US avg
7.15
4.26
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Steele County
4.26
ND avg
0.77
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Steele County
0
ND avg
11.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Steele County

8 cities mapped to FIPS 38091.

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.