In 2025, fire departments serving Fennville responded to 167 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $130K 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 68% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
785 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $971K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 155 | — | |
| 2022 | 115 | -25.8% | |
| 2023 | 152 | +32.2% | |
| 2024 | 196 | +28.9% | |
| 2025 | 167 | -14.8% |
For the 34 building fires Fennville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 137 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 | 30 | 21.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 17 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 25.5% |
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 Fennville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 30.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 13 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 9.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fennville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fennville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,302 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 11.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 71 | 5.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 41.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 51 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 2.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 43 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 43 | 42.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 5.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Fennville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fennville.
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.