In 2025, fire departments serving Sparta responded to 132 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $385K 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 71% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
762 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 176 | — | |
| 2022 | 135 | -23.3% | |
| 2023 | 163 | +20.7% | |
| 2024 | 156 | -4.3% | |
| 2025 | 132 | -15.4% |
For the 31 building fires Sparta departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 169 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 | 40 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 14 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 10 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 47 | 27.8% |
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 Sparta mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 34.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 15 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 12 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Match | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 13.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sparta departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $385,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sparta sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,556 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 910 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 191 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 175 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 162 | 16.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 151 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 21.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 41.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 106 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 16.5 mi |
Top 6 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 Sparta. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sparta.
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.