In 2025, fire departments serving Hudsonville responded to 196 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $450K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,011 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $6.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 192 | — | |
| 2022 | 175 | -8.9% | |
| 2023 | 216 | +23.4% | |
| 2024 | 232 | +7.4% | |
| 2025 | 196 | -15.5% |
For the 25 building fires Hudsonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 154 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 | 36 | 23.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 13 | 8.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 11 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 56 | 36.4% |
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 Hudsonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 28 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 19 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 13.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hudsonville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $22,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hudsonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,589 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 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 43.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 106 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 44.1 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 49426 | 1,011 |
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Hudsonville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hudsonville.
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.