In 2025, fire departments serving Grayling responded to 124 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M 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 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
657 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $4.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 170 | — | |
| 2022 | 140 | -17.6% | |
| 2023 | 143 | +2.1% | |
| 2024 | 80 | -44.1% | |
| 2025 | 124 | +55.0% |
For the 24 building fires Grayling departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 169 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 | 29 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 21 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 20 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 11.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 24.9% |
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 Grayling mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 29.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 38 | 22.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Grayling departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $345,900 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Grayling sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 37,815 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 8,586 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 5,818 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 5,200 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,250 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,900 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,557 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,345 | 2.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,238 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 1,040 | 7.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,035 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 844 | 8.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 840 | 32.1 mi |
Top 7 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 Grayling. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Grayling.
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.