In 2025, fire departments serving Springfield responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 88% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
309 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $451K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022 | 54 | -12.9% | |
| 2023 | 62 | +14.8% | |
| 2024 | 64 | +3.2% | |
| 2025 | 67 | +4.7% |
For the 6 building fires Springfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 20 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 | Other | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 5.0% |
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 Springfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Springfield departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Springfield sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,398 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 154 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 119 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 11.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 71 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 57 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 8.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 51 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 43 | 25.2 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 Springfield. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Springfield.
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.