In 2025, fire departments serving Clawson responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $24K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
347 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $495K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 91 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | -41.8% | |
| 2023 | 70 | +32.1% | |
| 2024 | 88 | +25.7% | |
| 2025 | 45 | -48.9% |
For the 3 building fires Clawson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 63 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 27.0% |
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 Clawson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 15.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clawson departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $24,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $300 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $250 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clawson sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,443 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 64 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 51 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 8.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 45 | 47.7 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 Clawson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clawson.
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.