In 2025, fire departments serving Temperance responded to 141 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
780 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 178 | — | |
| 2022 | 143 | -19.7% | |
| 2023 | 174 | +21.7% | |
| 2024 | 144 | -17.2% | |
| 2025 | 141 | -2.1% |
For the 24 building fires Temperance departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 135 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 18 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 19.3% |
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 Temperance mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 38.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 8.9% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 17.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Temperance departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $22,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Temperance sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,011 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 | 24.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 5.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 21 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 24.7 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 Temperance. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Temperance.
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.