In 2025, fire departments serving Freeport responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K 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 80% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
131 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | +11.8% | |
| 2023 | 22 | +15.8% | |
| 2024 | 43 | +95.5% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -30.2% |
For the 7 building fires Freeport departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Office | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 17.9% |
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 Freeport mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 32.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Freeport departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Freeport sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,957 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 21.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 8.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 41.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 30.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 71 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 61 | 47.4 mi |
Top 3 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 Freeport. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Freeport.
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.