In 2025, fire departments serving West Branch responded to 136 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K 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 77% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
456 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.3M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79 | — | |
| 2022* | 26 | — | |
| 2023* | 26 | — | |
| 2024 | 189 | — | |
| 2025 | 136 | -28.0% |
* Well below West Branch'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 10 building fires West Branch departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 113 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 | 42 | 37.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 12 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 13.3% |
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 West Branch mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 77 | 68.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 14 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 4.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Branch departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Branch sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 38,519 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 8,586 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 5,818 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 5,200 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,250 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,900 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,557 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,345 | 33.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,238 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 1,040 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,035 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 844 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 840 | 25.2 mi |
Top 2 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 West Branch. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in West Branch.
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.