In 2025, fire departments serving Sturgis responded to 142 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 74% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
483 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $554K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 51 | — | |
| 2022* | 44 | — | |
| 2023 | 133 | — | |
| 2024 | 113 | -15.0% | |
| 2025 | 142 | +25.7% |
* Well below Sturgis'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 6 building fires Sturgis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 62 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 | 11 | 17.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 32.3% |
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 Sturgis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 40.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 17.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 10 | 16.1% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sturgis departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sturgis sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 19 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 639 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 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 105 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Fireworks | 40 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 22 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 21 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 50.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Sturgis. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sturgis.
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.