In 2025, fire departments serving Port Huron responded to 450 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 67% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,616 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $19.4M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 630 | — | |
| 2022 | 475 | -24.6% | |
| 2023 | 598 | +25.9% | |
| 2024 | 463 | -22.6% | |
| 2025 | 450 | -2.8% |
For the 69 building fires Port Huron departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 458 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 81 | 17.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 55 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 41 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 21 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 21 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 20 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 17 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 16 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 16 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 11 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 159 | 34.7% |
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 Port Huron mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 195 | 42.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 52 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 39 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 31 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 19 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 19 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 18 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 51 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Port Huron departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 73% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Port Huron sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
22 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 18 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 579 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 116 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 64 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 40 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 37 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 33 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 27 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 20 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 40.4 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 Port Huron. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Port Huron.
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.