In 2025, fire departments serving Coleman responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
219 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 72 | — | |
| 2022* | 16 | — | |
| 2023 | 55 | — | |
| 2024 | 33 | -40.0% | |
| 2025 | 43 | +30.3% |
* Well below Coleman's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 9 building fires Coleman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 59 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 | 35 | 59.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 8.5% |
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 Coleman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 47 | 79.7% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Coleman departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Coleman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,204 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 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 335 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 331 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 311 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 289 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 202 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 186 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 178 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 155 | 8.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 153 | 33.8 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 Coleman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Coleman.
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.