In 2025, fire departments serving Baldwin responded to 60 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
336 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | -46.2% | |
| 2023 | 80 | +86.0% | |
| 2024 | 73 | -8.8% | |
| 2025 | 60 | -17.8% |
For the 5 building fires Baldwin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | Undetermined | 16 | 38.1% | |
| 2 | Other | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 9.5% |
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 Baldwin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 54.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 2.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Baldwin sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,475 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 910 | 5.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 764 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 41.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 200 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 152 | 10.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 133 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 118 | 12.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 36.5 mi |
Top 3 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 Baldwin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Baldwin.
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.