In 2025, fire departments serving Burr Oak responded to 41 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
167 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $787K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45 | — | |
| 2022* | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 36 | — | |
| 2024 | 32 | -11.1% | |
| 2025 | 41 | +28.1% |
* Well below Burr Oak'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 8 building fires Burr Oak departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | 11 | 36.7% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 6.7% |
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 Burr Oak mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 46.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Burr Oak departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Burr Oak sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 745 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 154 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Fireworks | 40 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 33 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 22 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 21 | 33.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Burr Oak. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Burr Oak.
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.