In 2025, fire departments serving Petoskey responded to 116 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 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 93% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
801 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 198 | — | |
| 2022 | 203 | +2.5% | |
| 2023 | 187 | -7.9% | |
| 2024 | 97 | -48.1% | |
| 2025 | 116 | +19.6% |
For the 2 building fires Petoskey departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 | 13.5% | |
| 2 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 27.0% |
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 Petoskey mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 10 | 27.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 3 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 10.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Petoskey departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Petoskey sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,046 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 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,900 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 844 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 817 | 45.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 209 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 115 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Recreation and ceremony | 108 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.9 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 49770 | 801 |
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Petoskey. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Petoskey.
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.