In 2025, fire departments serving Wolverine Lake responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 92% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
87 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $350K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | -57.7% | |
| 2023 | 23 | +109.1% | |
| 2024 | 14 | -39.1% | |
| 2025 | 13 | -7.1% |
For the 1 building fires Wolverine Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 6 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 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 Wolverine Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 16.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wolverine Lake sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,864 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 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 142 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 23.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 39.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 41.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 64 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 41.6 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 Wolverine Lake. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.