In 2025, fire departments serving Mount Pleasant responded to 272 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,239 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 269 | — | |
| 2022 | 185 | -31.2% | |
| 2023 | 254 | +37.3% | |
| 2024 | 259 | +2.0% | |
| 2025 | 272 | +5.0% |
For the 32 building fires Mount Pleasant departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 267 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 | 35 | 13.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 31 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 20 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 15 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 88 | 33.0% |
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 Mount Pleasant mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 126 | 47.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 20 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 12 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mount Pleasant departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 78% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mount Pleasant sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,005 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,557 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 186 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 178 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 155 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 153 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 96 | 39.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Mount Pleasant. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.