In 2025, fire departments serving Fowlerville responded to 156 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
683 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 113 | — | |
| 2022 | 136 | +20.4% | |
| 2023 | 144 | +5.9% | |
| 2024 | 134 | -6.9% | |
| 2025 | 156 | +16.4% |
For the 14 building fires Fowlerville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 213 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 62 | 29.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 25 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 21 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 20 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 11 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 19.7% |
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 Fowlerville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 55 | 25.8% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 28 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 22 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 20 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Match | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 36 | 16.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fowlerville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fowlerville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,538 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 2.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 142 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 8.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 32.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 25.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 61 | 41.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 51 | 2.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 12.0 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 Fowlerville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fowlerville.
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.