In 2025, fire departments serving Escanaba responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M 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 84% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
153 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $12.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | -4.3% | |
| 2023 | 39 | +77.3% | |
| 2024 | 26 | -33.3% | |
| 2025 | 43 | +65.4% |
For the 26 building fires Escanaba departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 75 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 | 12 | 16.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 34.7% |
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 Escanaba mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Escanaba departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Escanaba sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,625 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 154 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 127 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 103 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 10.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 88 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | 87 | 42.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 84 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 63 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 36.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 54 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 54 | 23.8 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 Escanaba. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Escanaba.
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.