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2025 County Report

Fires in Allegan County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Allegan County responded to 1,354 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $450K property loss.

26,447 residents FIPS 26005 57 cities · 13 fire depts
Total incidents
1,354
6,518 across 5 years
Building fires
194
102 wildland
Property loss
$5.4M
$3.8M structure · $1.6M contents
Casualties
0 / 7
0 civ deaths · 4 civ inj · 3 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.

1,354
Total Incidents
Power line down 407 30.1%
Building fires 194 14.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 121 8.9%
Unauthorized burning 74 5.5%
Fire, other 53 3.9%
All other categories 505 37.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Allegan County?

May peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 64
Feb 69
Mar 192
Apr 150
May 226
Jun 130
Jul 121
Aug 134
Sep 103
Oct 67
Nov 56
Dec 42
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Allegan County

6,518 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,298
2022 1,147
2023 1,244
2024 1,475
2025 1,354
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 194 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
63%
147
Cause undetermined
11%
26
Intentional / arson
9%
22
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
20
Under investigation
3%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
11
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Allegan County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 63% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $450,000 Wayland Building fires Major
2 $330,000 Dorr Building fires Major
3 $300,000 Wayland Building fires Major
4 $250,000 Dorr Building fires Major
5 $250,000 WAYLAND Building fires Major
6 $200,000 200 Watson St Outside equipment fire Significant
7 $150,000 Allegan Building fires Significant
8 $150,000 Allegan Building fires Significant
9 $150,000 Wayland Building fires Significant
10 $150,000 Otsego Building fires Significant
06 How Allegan County compares

Allegan County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

51.2
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Allegan County
51.2
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
7.34
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Allegan County
7.34
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Allegan County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Allegan County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26005.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Allegan County

13 departments report from this county.

ALLEGAN FIRE DISTRICT
Allegan
FDID 00301 207 incidents 1 paid
OSHTEMO TWP FIRE DEPT
KALAMAZOO
FDID 03913 184 incidents 3 paid
WAYLAND FIRE DEPARTMENT
WAYLAND
FDID 00319 132 incidents
Martin Twp FD
Martin
FDID 00312 116 incidents
HAMILTON FIRE DEPARTMENT
HAMILTONMI
FDID 00308 90 incidents 1 paid 22 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MI

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Brittle 2021 USFS 5,666
2 21-SLBE Lasso Loop burn 2021 NPS 577
3 21-SLBE Peterson 2021 NPS 512
4 21-SLBE Otter Creek burn 2021 NPS 506
5 Horn 2021 NPS 485
6 Unhappy Camper 2015 USFS 471
7 21-SLBE Bass Lake burn 2021 NPS 405
8 Good Harbor Trail RX 2023 NPS 342
9 Summit Lake 2024 USFS 327
10 MISNR-FY19-RX-Red Pine Natural Area 2019 FWS 172

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.