In 2025, fire departments serving North Muskegon responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. North Muskegon's departments reported 12 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 68 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
339 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 85 | — | |
| 2022 | 73 | -14.1% | |
| 2023 | 150 | +105.5% | |
| 2024* | 19 | — | |
| 2025* | 12 | — |
* Well below North Muskegon'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 0 building fires North Muskegon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 40 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 | 5 | 12.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 22.5% |
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 North Muskegon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Candle | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 7.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North Muskegon sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,219 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 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 9.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 4.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 31.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 15.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 106 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 30.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 96 | 41.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 93 | 17.3 mi |
Top 6 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 North Muskegon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in North Muskegon.
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.