In 2025, fire departments serving Farwell responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 78% of all calls.
May peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
265 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | -21.3% | |
| 2023 | 57 | +18.8% | |
| 2024 | 59 | +3.5% | |
| 2025 | 40 | -32.2% |
For the 17 building fires Farwell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 87 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 | 17 | 19.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 15 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 16.1% | |
| 4 | Wall assembly | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 23.0% |
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 Farwell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 39 | 44.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Farwell departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $170,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Farwell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,481 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,557 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 331 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 311 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 186 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 178 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 155 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 153 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 152 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 133 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 125 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 97 | 47.9 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 Farwell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Farwell.
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.