In 2025, fire departments serving Climax responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $8K 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 83% of all calls.
May peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
129 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $193K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | -4.0% | |
| 2023 | 33 | +37.5% | |
| 2024 | 18 | -45.5% | |
| 2025 | 29 | +61.1% |
For the 3 building fires Climax departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 7 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 23.8% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Shipping/receiving area; loading area, dock or bay | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 4.8% |
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 Climax mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 71.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Climax departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Climax sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,388 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 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 17.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 71 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 57 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 13.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 51 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 43 | 32.1 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 Climax. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Climax.
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.