In 2025, fire departments serving Benton Harbor responded to 527 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,537 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $12.3M cumulative property loss. 6 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 436 | — | |
| 2022 | 499 | +14.4% | |
| 2023 | 528 | +5.8% | |
| 2024 | 547 | +3.6% | |
| 2025 | 527 | -3.7% |
For the 109 building fires Benton Harbor departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 703 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 | 117 | 16.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 71 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 67 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 65 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 65 | 9.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 35 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 33 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 29 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 20 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 18 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 183 | 26.0% |
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 Benton Harbor mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 405 | 57.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 52 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 36 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 24 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 22 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 20 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 18 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 15 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 77 | 11.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Benton Harbor departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 50% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $125,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $116,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Benton Harbor sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
31 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 7 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 6 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 875 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 71 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 34.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 44.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Smoking | 41 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 37.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 40 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 34 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 33 | 45.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 30 | 48.4 mi |
Top 6 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 Benton Harbor. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Benton Harbor.
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.