In 2025, fire departments serving Comstock Park responded to 135 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $850K 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 56% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
818 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 151 | — | |
| 2022 | 129 | -14.6% | |
| 2023 | 230 | +78.3% | |
| 2024 | 173 | -24.8% | |
| 2025 | 135 | -22.0% |
For the 27 building fires Comstock Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 177 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 37 | 20.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 12 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 55 | 31.1% |
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 Comstock Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 49 | 27.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 28 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 23 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 30 | 16.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Comstock Park departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $850,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Outside equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,588 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Comstock Park sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 6 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,660 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 24.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 19.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 106 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 24.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 28.5 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 Comstock Park. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Comstock Park.
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.