In 2025, fire departments serving Richmond responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 72% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
230 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $383K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022 | 64 | — | |
| 2023 | 69 | +7.8% | |
| 2024 | 62 | -10.1% | |
| 2025 | 32 | -48.4% |
* Well below Richmond'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 1 building fires Richmond departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 45 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 | Outside area, other | 13 | 28.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 13.3% |
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 Richmond mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Candle | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Richmond departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Richmond sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 20 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 554 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Smoking | 64 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 9.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 37 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 33 | 21.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 30 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 30 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 27 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 21 | 44.6 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 Richmond. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.