In 2025, fire departments serving Bridgman responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Bridgman's departments reported 16 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 36 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 81% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
180 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $200K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | -34.0% | |
| 2023 | 34 | -2.9% | |
| 2024 | 42 | +23.5% | |
| 2025* | 16 | — |
* Well below Bridgman'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 1 building fires Bridgman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 | 12 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 11.7% |
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 Bridgman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 15.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bridgman sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,503 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 42.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 187 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 182 | 41.3 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 49106 | 180 |
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Bridgman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bridgman.
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.