In 2025, fire departments serving Brown City responded to 57 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 81% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
247 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | -21.4% | |
| 2023 | 42 | -4.5% | |
| 2024 | 48 | +14.3% | |
| 2025 | 57 | +18.8% |
For the 27 building fires Brown City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 69 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 | 26 | 37.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 6 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 20.3% |
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 Brown City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 47.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 8 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brown City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brown City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,537 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 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 257 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 116 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 67 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 64 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 63 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 61 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 40 | 28.4 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 Brown City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Brown City.
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.