In 2025, fire departments serving Delton responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $289K 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 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
294 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $555K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022* | 34 | — | |
| 2023 | 73 | — | |
| 2024 | 61 | -16.4% | |
| 2025 | 59 | -3.3% |
* Well below Delton'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 Delton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 36 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 | 11 | 30.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 13.9% |
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 Delton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 2.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Delton departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $289,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Delton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,696 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 154 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 23.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 26.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 71 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 | 27.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 60 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 57 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 6.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 51 | 14.4 mi |
Top 7 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 Delton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Delton.
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.