In 2025, fire departments serving Buchanan responded to 157 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $116K 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 72% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
562 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 127 | — | |
| 2022 | 109 | -14.2% | |
| 2023 | 84 | -22.9% | |
| 2024 | 85 | +1.2% | |
| 2025 | 157 | +84.7% |
For the 30 building fires Buchanan 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 | 42 | 60.9% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 7.2% |
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 Buchanan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 53 | 76.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Buchanan departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $116,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Buchanan sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,286 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 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 182 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 165 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 142 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 130 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 119 | 49.5 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 Buchanan. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Buchanan.
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.