In 2025, fire departments serving Pellston responded to 36 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
114 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022* | 12 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | — | |
| 2024 | 22 | +4.8% | |
| 2025 | 36 | +63.6% |
* Well below Pellston'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 3 building fires Pellston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | Other | 6 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 6 | Sales area, showroom (exclude display window) | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 14.3% |
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 Pellston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 34.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Match | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 17.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pellston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,659 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,250 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 1,832 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 900 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 775 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 209 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 172 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Recreation and ceremony | 108 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 83 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 81 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 66 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 66 | 46.4 mi |
Top 3 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 Pellston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pellston.
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.