In 2025, fire departments serving Muskegon Heights responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Muskegon Heights's departments reported 22 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 154 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
770 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 215 | — | |
| 2022 | 205 | -4.7% | |
| 2023 | 161 | -21.5% | |
| 2024 | 167 | +3.7% | |
| 2025* | 22 | — |
* Well below Muskegon Heights'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 18 building fires Muskegon Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 136 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 | 20 | 14.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 15 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 31.6% |
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 Muskegon Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 70 | 51.5% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 24 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Candle | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 9.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Muskegon Heights departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Muskegon Heights sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,385 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 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 5.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 31.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 18.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 106 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 30.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 48.0 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 Muskegon Heights. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Muskegon Heights.
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.