In 2025, fire departments serving Cadillac responded to 183 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 65% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
819 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 182 | — | |
| 2022 | 143 | -21.4% | |
| 2023 | 152 | +6.3% | |
| 2024 | 159 | +4.6% | |
| 2025 | 183 | +15.1% |
For the 23 building fires Cadillac departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 143 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 | 29 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 16.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 24.5% |
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 Cadillac mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 74 | 51.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 7.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cadillac departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $185,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cadillac sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,731 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,557 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,345 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 1,040 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 910 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 817 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 764 | 22.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 200 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 153 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 152 | 22.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 28.0 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 Cadillac. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cadillac.
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.