In 2025, fire departments serving Alanson responded to 117 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 94% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
260 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $139K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | — | |
| 2022* | 28 | — | |
| 2023 | 44 | — | |
| 2024 | 37 | -15.9% | |
| 2025 | 117 | +216.2% |
* Well below Alanson's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 7 building fires Alanson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 15.6% |
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 Alanson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alanson departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alanson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,788 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,250 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,900 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 844 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 775 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 209 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 172 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Recreation and ceremony | 108 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 83 | 27.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 81 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 62 | 45.1 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 Alanson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Alanson.
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.