In 2025, fire departments serving Reed City responded to 88 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 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
397 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 75 | — | |
| 2022 | 75 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 81 | +8.0% | |
| 2024 | 78 | -3.7% | |
| 2025 | 88 | +12.8% |
For the 9 building fires Reed City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 126 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 | 32 | 25.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 20 | 15.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Other | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 16.7% |
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 Reed City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 72 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Reed City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Reed City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,953 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,557 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 910 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 764 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 200 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 153 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 152 | 12.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 133 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 118 | 28.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Reed City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Reed City.
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.