In 2025, fire departments serving Clare responded to 107 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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.
Dec peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
420 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 85 | — | |
| 2022 | 81 | -4.7% | |
| 2023 | 83 | +2.5% | |
| 2024 | 64 | -22.9% | |
| 2025 | 107 | +67.2% |
For the 16 building fires Clare departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 148 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 | 76 | 51.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 18 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 8 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 6.1% |
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 Clare mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 118 | 79.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clare departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clare sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,998 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 | 27.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,238 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 331 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 311 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 289 | 45.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 202 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 186 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 178 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 155 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 153 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 152 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 136 | 49.6 mi |
Top 6 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 Clare. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clare.
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.