In 2025, fire departments serving Lake Linden responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $90K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Lake Linden's departments reported 10 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 26 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
131 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 38 | +111.1% | |
| 2023 | 29 | -23.7% | |
| 2024 | 36 | +24.1% | |
| 2025* | 10 | — |
* Well below Lake Linden's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Lake Linden departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | 6 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 26.9% |
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 Lake Linden mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 19.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Incendiary device | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 19.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lake Linden departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lake Linden sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 20 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,350 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,127 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 700 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 8.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 388 | 6.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | 148 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 119 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 106 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 58 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Fireworks | 43 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 38 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 31 | 12.2 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 | 49945 | 131 |
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Lake Linden. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lake Linden.
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.