In 2025, fire departments serving Clinton responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 78% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
298 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $483K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 57 | +29.5% | |
| 2023 | 121 | +112.3% | |
| 2024 | 36 | -70.2% | |
| 2025 | 40 | +11.1% |
For the 9 building fires Clinton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 18.5% |
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 Clinton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 12 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 14.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clinton departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clinton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,742 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 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 142 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 9.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 51 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 29.3 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 Clinton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clinton.
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.