In 2025, fire departments serving Morley responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K 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 45% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
280 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55 | — | |
| 2022 | 47 | -14.5% | |
| 2023 | 45 | -4.3% | |
| 2024 | 80 | +77.8% | |
| 2025 | 53 | -33.8% |
For the 7 building fires Morley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 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 | Undetermined | 9 | 19.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 28.3% |
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 Morley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 52.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 8 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Match | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Morley departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Morley sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,707 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 910 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 152 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 35.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 118 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 106 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 14.4 mi |
Top 7 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 Morley. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Morley.
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.