In 2025, fire departments serving Colon responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 85% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
266 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | -45.6% | |
| 2023 | 34 | -20.9% | |
| 2024 | 70 | +105.9% | |
| 2025 | 40 | -42.9% |
For the 7 building fires Colon 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 31.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 13 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 12.7% |
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 Colon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Colon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 938 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 | 17.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 33.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 51 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Fireworks | 40 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 33 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 23.1 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 Colon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Colon.
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.