In 2025, fire departments serving Hartland responded to 38 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $227K 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.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
221 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | -2.3% | |
| 2023 | 50 | +16.3% | |
| 2024 | 46 | -8.0% | |
| 2025 | 38 | -17.4% |
For the 8 building fires Hartland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 49 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 | 11 | 22.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 14.3% |
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 Hartland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 55.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 20.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Match | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 2.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hartland departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $227,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hartland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,618 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 | 17.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 142 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 11.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 64 | 41.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 51 | 17.9 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 Hartland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hartland.
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.