In 2025, fire departments serving Grand Haven responded to 257 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300.0M 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 63% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,224 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $304.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 236 | — | |
| 2022 | 229 | -3.0% | |
| 2023 | 237 | +3.5% | |
| 2024 | 265 | +11.8% | |
| 2025 | 257 | -3.0% |
For the 48 building fires Grand Haven departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 171 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 | 32 | 18.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 11 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 61 | 35.7% |
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 Grand Haven mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 23 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 19 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 18 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 9.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 15 | 8.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 10.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Grand Haven departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000,000 | Building fires | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Grand Haven sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,352 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 36.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 28.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 106 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 96 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 93 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 32.1 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 Grand Haven. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Grand Haven.
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.