In 2025, fire departments serving Niles responded to 430 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,780 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 309 | — | |
| 2022 | 387 | +25.2% | |
| 2023 | 298 | -23.0% | |
| 2024 | 356 | +19.5% | |
| 2025 | 430 | +20.8% |
For the 64 building fires Niles departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 372 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 | 93 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 43 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 38 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 27 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 25 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 15 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 94 | 25.3% |
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 Niles mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 190 | 51.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 26 | 7.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 25 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 22 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 18 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Match | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 9 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 44 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Niles departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $158,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $125,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Niles sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 17 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 376 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 43.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 30 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 27 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 25 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 17 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 16 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 48.3 mi |
Top 5 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 Niles. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Niles.
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.