In 2025, fire departments serving Harrison responded to 276 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K 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 75% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,115 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.8M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 218 | — | |
| 2022 | 193 | -11.5% | |
| 2023 | 204 | +5.7% | |
| 2024 | 224 | +9.8% | |
| 2025 | 276 | +23.2% |
For the 45 building fires Harrison departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 310 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 | Outside area, other | 51 | 16.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 44 | 14.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 42 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 32 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 11 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 10 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 76 | 24.5% |
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 Harrison mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 123 | 39.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 39 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 23 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 21 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 20 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 19 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 5.8% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 10 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Harrison departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 70% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $110,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Harrison sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 25,793 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 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 5,818 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,557 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,345 | 42.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,238 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 1,040 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 817 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 778 | 40.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 687 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 628 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 448 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 331 | 32.7 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 Harrison. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Harrison.
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.