In 2025, fire departments serving River Rouge responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. River Rouge's departments reported 27 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 65 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
May peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
327 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $581K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 69 | — | |
| 2022 | 93 | +34.8% | |
| 2023 | 88 | -5.4% | |
| 2024 | 50 | -43.2% | |
| 2025* | 27 | — |
* Well below River Rouge'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 9 building fires River Rouge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 50 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 | 10 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 7 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 18.0% |
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 River Rouge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 54.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 8.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by River Rouge departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. River Rouge sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 24 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,137 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 47.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 16.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 38 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 30 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 30 | 30.7 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 | 48218 | 327 |
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of River Rouge. 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.