In 2025, fire departments serving Bridgeport responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $7.0M 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 70% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
323 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $7.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56 | — | |
| 2022 | 82 | +46.4% | |
| 2023 | 53 | -35.4% | |
| 2024 | 76 | +43.4% | |
| 2025 | 56 | -26.3% |
For the 11 building fires Bridgeport departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 92 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 | 27 | 29.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 17.4% |
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 Bridgeport mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 54 | 58.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 6.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bridgeport departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $7,030,694 | Building fires | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bridgeport sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,717 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 335 | 17.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 289 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 257 | 40.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 202 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 186 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 155 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 97 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 67 | 21.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Bridgeport. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bridgeport.
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.