Idaho wildfires
Every recorded wildfire record since 1996 · 40 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 431 wildfire records in Idaho from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 17 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the June 29, 2025 wildfire in Kootenai County: 2 deaths and $10,000 in damage in 2025 dollars. Idaho ranks 8th of 48 states and territories by count and 12th of 48 per square mile.
Wildfires in Idaho, 1996 to 2026
Wildfire records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 4311996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 17average
- Deaths
- 627 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $835Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 201637 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are wildfire records common in Idaho?
Idaho averages about 17 wildfire records a year since 2000, 8th of 48 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2016 (37). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Idaho records 52 wildfire records since 1996, 12th of 48 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in Idaho have the most wildfire records?
Per square mile, Madison County leads Idaho: 35 days with a wildfire record since 1996, 74.6 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Bingham County has the most wildfire records (102 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is fire season in Idaho?
68% of its wildfire records since 1996 fell in July and August. The busiest month is August (166 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 0 · Feb 0 · Mar 0 · Apr 1 · May 0 · Jun 39 · Jul 125 · Aug 166 · Sep 79 · Oct 21 · Nov 0 · Dec 0 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest wildfire records in Idaho?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-06-29 | WildfireKootenai County · forecast zone Coeur D'alene Area Nettleton Gulch Fire was started around 1220 PST on June 29 Eat of Hayden, Idaho. It was a deliberate human caused fire. The individual then fired on first responders causing 2 fatalities and one injury. It continued until July 5 and burned 23 acres of timber and grass. Cost is estimated. | 2 | 0 | $10K | |
| 2003-07-22 | WildfireShoup, Lemhi County Two fire fighters were killed on the Cramer Fire, 17 miles west of Shoup in western Lemhi County. Several days of hot and dry conditions caused the Cramer Fire to expand rapidly. The fire fighters were killed near a helipad waiting for a helicopter to pick them up, when the fire over took them. | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 2015-08-10 | Clearwater Lawyer Branch Fire · WildfireClearwater County and Idaho County · forecast zone Orofino / Grangeville Region KREM news reported The Lawyer Complex has burned 42 homes and 75 other buildings, according to Northern Rockies Incident Management Team. The National situation reported 118 structures lost (as of the last report 9/10/2015) with the cost of fighting the fire at 25 million dollars. The Idaho County Sheriff's Office ... | 1 | 1 | $11M | |
| 2008-08-25 | WildfireAda County and 2 more · forecast zone Upper Treasure Valley A wildfire in Southeast Boise caused by an electrical component near an Idaho Power sub station quickly burned out of control destroying 10 homes and damaging many more including 1 fatality. Another wildfire near Mountain Home burned around 500 acres. | 1 | 0 | $6.9M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest wildfire records in Idaho
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-06-28 | WildfireBannock County and 3 more · forecast zone Caribou Highlands | 0 | 0 | $607M | |
| 2025-09-01 | Sunset Fire · WildfireBonner County and 2 more · forecast zone Northern Panhandle One named storm filed by several offices: 3 records in 3 episodes; the totals are the storm's. | 0 | 0 | $39M | |
| 2023-09-01 | WildfireBenewah County and 3 more · forecast zone Central Panhandle Mountains | 0 | 0 | $23M | |
| 2023-08-03 | WildfireBenewah County and 3 more · forecast zone Central Panhandle Mountains | 0 | 0 | $23M | |
| 2024-07-24 | Gwen Fire · WildfireNez Perce County · forecast zone Lewiston Area One named storm filed by several offices: 3 records in 3 episodes, 2024-07-24 to 2024-08-01; the totals are the storm's. | 0 | 0 | $18M | |
| 2022-10-01 | WildfireBonner County and 2 more · forecast zone Northern Panhandle | 0 | 0 | $15M | |
| 2015-08-10 | Clearwater Lawyer Branch Fire · WildfireClearwater County and Idaho County · forecast zone Orofino / Grangeville Region | 1 | 1 | $11M | |
| 2018-08-01 | WildfireBonner County and 2 more · forecast zone Northern Panhandle One storm episode: 4 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $9.0M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are wildfire records becoming more frequent in Idaho?
Idaho's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Idaho | United States | Idaho's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 28 | 510 | 5.5% |
| 2000s | 99 | 2,997 | 3.3% |
| 2010s | 197 | 3,650 | 5.4% |
| 2020-26 | 107 | 2,436 | 4.4% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent wildfire records in Idaho
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-21 | WildfireBannock County and 3 more · forecast zone Marsh And Arbon Highlands | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-16 | WildfireBenewah County and 3 more · forecast zone Central Panhandle Mountains | 0 | 0 | $1.5M | |
| 2026-06-06 | WildfireBannock County and 2 more · forecast zone Lower Snake River Plain | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-10-01 | WildfireBonner County and 2 more · forecast zone Northern Panhandle | 0 | 0 | $3.4M | |
| 2025-09-28 | WildfireBlaine County and Custer County · forecast zone Sun Valley Region | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-09-01 | WildfireBonner County and 2 more · forecast zone Northern Panhandle | 0 | 0 | $3.4M | |
| 2025-09-01 | WildfireBonner County and 2 more · forecast zone Northern Panhandle | 0 | 0 | $18M | |
| 2025-08-23 | WildfireBannock County and 2 more · forecast zone Lower Snake River Plain | 0 | 0 | $3K | |
| 2025-08-15 | WildfireFremont County and 2 more · forecast zone Teton Valley | 0 | 0 | $2K | |
| 2025-08-13 | WildfireBonner County and 2 more · forecast zone Northern Panhandle | 0 | 0 | $18M | |
| 2025-08-06 | WildfireBonneville County and 3 more · forecast zone Upper Snake River Plain | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2025-08-01 | WildfireBonner County and 2 more · forecast zone Northern Panhandle | 0 | 0 | $3.4M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for wildfire records in Idaho
FEMA has declared 26 disasters in Idaho for wildfire, counting its incident type and declarations that name fire in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 3 were major disasters, the latest on August 2, 2026.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-02 | FM-5660 | Tartar Fire | 1 |
| 2025-08-15 | FM-5607 | Sunset Fire | 1 |
| 2024-07-26 | FM-5520 | Gwen Fire | 3 |
| 2024-07-16 | FM-5510 | Texas Fire | 2 |
| 2022-09-05 | FM-5452 | Ross Fork Fire | 1 |
| 2022-08-19 | FM-5449 | Four Corners Fire | 3 |
| 2021-08-13 | FM-5407 | Bedrock Fire | 2 |
| 2018-07-29 | FM-5263 | Grassy Ridge Fire | 1 |
| 2016-08-25 | FM-5151 | Henrys Creek Fire | 1 |
| 2015-08-29 | FM-5110 | Tepee Springs Fire | 1 |
| 2015-08-15 | FM-5105 | Municipal Fire | 1 |
| 2015-08-14 | FM-5099 | Clearwater Lawyer Branch Fire Complex | 2 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Madison County: the county's whole recordThe Idaho county with the most wildfire records per square mile
- Wildfires across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in IdahoTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Winter storms in Idaho4,944 records
- Severe thunderstorm wind in Idaho2,672 records
- Hail in Idaho1,113 records