In 2025, fire departments serving Tecumseh responded to 123 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 67% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
766 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 95 | — | |
| 2022 | 126 | +32.6% | |
| 2023 | 288 | +128.6% | |
| 2024 | 134 | -53.5% | |
| 2025 | 123 | -8.2% |
For the 12 building fires Tecumseh departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 80 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 | 12 | 15.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 8 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 22.5% |
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 Tecumseh mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Match | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Tecumseh departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $55,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tecumseh sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,741 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 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 142 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 13.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 18.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 51 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 33.8 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 Tecumseh. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Tecumseh.
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.