In 2025, fire departments serving Saranac responded to 129 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
551 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 95 | — | |
| 2022* | 65 | — | |
| 2023 | 144 | — | |
| 2024 | 118 | -18.1% | |
| 2025 | 129 | +9.3% |
* Well below Saranac'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 15 building fires Saranac departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 58 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 | 15 | 25.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Egress/exit, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 22.4% |
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 Saranac mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 36.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 8.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Saranac departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Saranac sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,170 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 11.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 18.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 96 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 39.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 44.3 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 Saranac. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Saranac.
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.