In 2025, fire departments serving Edwardsburg responded to 141 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M 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 82% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
493 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.9M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79 | — | |
| 2022 | 86 | +8.9% | |
| 2023 | 93 | +8.1% | |
| 2024 | 94 | +1.1% | |
| 2025 | 141 | +50.0% |
For the 25 building fires Edwardsburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 140 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 | Outside area, other | 26 | 18.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 15 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 32 | 22.9% |
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 Edwardsburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 40.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 11 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 12.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Edwardsburg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $156,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $156,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $45,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Edwardsburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 11 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 184 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 | 27 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 25 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 17 | 46.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 16 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 21.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 35.3 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 Edwardsburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Edwardsburg.
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.