In 2025, fire departments serving Ubly responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
59 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $877K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 8 | -11.1% | |
| 2024 | 11 | +37.5% | |
| 2025 | 22 | +100.0% |
For the 5 building fires Ubly departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | 9 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Assembly or sales area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Office | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 16.7% |
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 Ubly mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 41.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ubly departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $56,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ubly sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,933 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 335 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 257 | 27.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 116 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 15.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 68 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 67 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 66 | 16.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 65 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 64 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 63 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 61 | 42.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Ubly. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ubly.
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.