In 2025, fire departments serving Lapeer responded to 272 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $207K 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 58% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,358 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $8.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 249 | — | |
| 2022 | 288 | +15.7% | |
| 2023 | 246 | -14.6% | |
| 2024 | 303 | +23.2% | |
| 2025 | 272 | -10.2% |
For the 68 building fires Lapeer departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 387 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 | 51 | 13.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 40 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 37 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 28 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 28 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 25 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 17 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 12 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 11 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 125 | 32.3% |
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 Lapeer mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 144 | 37.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 45 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 32 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated heat from another fire | 29 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 19 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 17 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 57 | 14.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lapeer departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 74% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $207,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $125,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $95,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $80,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lapeer sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
16 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,722 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 335 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 116 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 67 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 64 | 7.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 63 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 61 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 35.6 mi |
Top 2 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 Lapeer. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lapeer.
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.