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2025 County Report

Fires in Walworth County, SD

In 2025, fire departments serving Walworth County responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $300K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

4,153 residents FIPS 46129 7 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
35
163 across 5 years
Building fires
1
5 wildland
Property loss
$550K
$550K structure · $0 contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.

35
Total Incidents
Power line down 7 20.0%
Fire, other 4 11.4%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 3 8.6%
Passenger vehicle fire 3 8.6%
Grass fire 3 8.6%
All other categories 15 42.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Walworth County?

Jul peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 2
Feb 0
Mar 3
Apr 5
May 5
Jun 4
Jul 8
Aug 1
Sep 5
Oct 0
Nov 1
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Walworth County

163 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 54
2022 30
2023 12
2024 32
2025 35
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 1 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
60%
9
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
7%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
27%
4
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
6%
1
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $550K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Walworth County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $300,000 Java Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
2 $250,000 Java Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
3 $200 lowry Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire Significant
06 How Walworth County compares

Walworth County vs SD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.43
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Walworth County
8.43
SD avg
5.75
US avg
7.15
0.24
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Walworth County
0.24
SD avg
0.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Walworth County
0
SD avg
7.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Walworth County

7 cities mapped to FIPS 46129.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Walworth County

6 departments report from this county.

Mobridge
Mobridge
FDID 63001 31 incidents 18 vol
Selby
Selby
FDID 63002 6 incidents 24 vol
Java
Java
FDID 63003 3 incidents 20 vol
Akaska
Akaska
FDID 63004 1 incidents 29 vol
Glenham
Glenham
FDID 63005 0 incidents 23 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.