In 2025, fire departments serving Adrian responded to 229 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $140K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,685 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.6M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 288 | — | |
| 2022 | 324 | +12.5% | |
| 2023 | 495 | +52.8% | |
| 2024 | 349 | -29.5% | |
| 2025 | 229 | -34.4% |
For the 37 building fires Adrian departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 350 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 58 | 16.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 48 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 40 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 38 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 24 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 82 | 23.4% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Adrian mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 198 | 56.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 22 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 12 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 7 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Adrian departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Adrian sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,510 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 142 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 19.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 9.7 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Adrian. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Adrian.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.