In 2025, fire departments serving Union County responded to 109 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Fire, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips.
540 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 124 | |
| 2022 | 145 | |
| 2023 | 77 | |
| 2024 | 85 | |
| 2025 | 109 |
For the 7 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Union County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | DAKOTA DUNES | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $1,158,500 | City of North Sioux | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $200,000 | Dakota Dunes | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 4 | $100,000 | Beresford | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 5 | $40,000 | ALCESTER | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 6 | $20,000 | Beresford | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 7 | $19,000 | Alcester | Fire, other | Significant |
| 8 | $15,000 | Alcester | Fire, other | Significant |
| 9 | $15,000 | Alcester | Fire, other | Significant |
| 10 | $12,000 | Beresford | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 46127.
5 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.