North Dakota wildfire risk

North Dakota's recorded fire history

Federal perimeter records list 563 mapped wildfires in North Dakota since 2000. The largest on that record is the Pautre Fire of 2013, which burned 10,680 acres.

Recorded history feeds directly into your address score: our model counts mapped burns within 25 miles of a parcel, weighted toward large ones. It is worth knowing the limitation, though — a long record of successful suppression can leave an area reading quiet while fuel accumulates, which is precisely the condition that produces the next large fire.

Where hazard concentrates in North Dakota

Wildfire hazard is not spread evenly across a state. These are the 5 counties in North Dakota with the highest wildfire risk scores in FEMA's National Risk Index, with the building value each has sitting in exposed areas.

Rolette County carries the highest score in the state at 96.4. If your address is there, or in any of the counties above, the statewide average understates your situation considerably — which is the reason to check the parcel rather than the state.

How North Dakota ranks nationally

FEMA's National Risk Index scores every US county for expected annual wildfire loss. Across North Dakota's 53 assessed counties the average wildfire hazard score is 61.7, which places the state 19th of the 50 states. The most exposed county in North Dakota scores 96.4.

Against a 50-state average of 52.7, North Dakota sits 9.0 points above it. Rank 19 of 50. The National Risk Index blends how often wildfire is expected with how much is standing in the way, so a state can post a moderate score with severe local hazard wherever development has pushed into the wildland-urban interface.

Roughly $50.2B of building value sits inside North Dakota's wildfire-exposed areas. That figure is what drives carrier behaviour: insurers manage concentration of exposure, so a state can have modest average hazard and still see availability problems wherever that value clusters in the wildland-urban interface.

North Dakota wildfire season

North Dakota sees most wildfire activity during dry spells in spring and autumn, when cured vegetation and low humidity coincide. Activity is generally episodic rather than a sustained multi-month season.

Insurance in North Dakota

North Dakota does not operate a FAIR Plan in the way the western fire states do, which in practice means the surplus lines market is the fallback for a parcel the admitted market declines. An independent broker is more useful here than a captive agent, because only they can access those carriers.

Residual-market availability and the rules governing it change. Confirm the current position with the North Dakota Department of Insurance before you rely on it.

Whatever the market looks like in your area, the sequence is the same: document mitigation before your renewal date, work with an independent broker who can access surplus lines, and ask directly whether the carrier credits wildfire mitigation. The full fire insurance guide covers non-renewal, FAIR Plans and difference-in-conditions wraps in detail.

Lowering your risk in North Dakota

The two changes with the best return anywhere in the country are clearing the first five feet around the structure to non-combustible material, and screening vents against ember entry. Both are cheap, both address the mechanism that destroys most homes, and both are visible to an underwriter if you photograph and invoice them. What qualifies and how to document it.