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2025 County Report

Fires in Alpena County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Alpena County responded to 260 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss.

11,052 residents FIPS 26007 14 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
260
1,206 across 5 years
Building fires
37
20 wildland
Property loss
$4.2M
$2.5M structure · $1.7M contents
Casualties
1 / 2
1 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.

260
Total Incidents
Power line down 84 32.3%
Building fires 37 14.2%
Passenger vehicle fire 14 5.4%
Hazardous condition, other 12 4.6%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 12 4.6%
All other categories 101 38.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Alpena County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 10
Feb 8
Mar 82
Apr 54
May 25
Jun 20
Jul 16
Aug 15
Sep 8
Oct 12
Nov 7
Dec 3
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Alpena County

1,206 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 286
2022 225
2023 220
2024 215
2025 260
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 37 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
48%
28
Cause undetermined
7%
4
Intentional / arson
12%
7
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
9
Under investigation
14%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Alpena County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 91% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 Alpena Building fires Major
2 $250,000 Alpena Building fires Major
3 $233,000 Herron Building fires Significant
4 $180,000 ALPENA Building fires Significant
5 $172,000 Alpena Building fires Significant
6 $150,000 alpena township Building fires Significant
7 $100,000 Alpena Building fires Significant
8 $70,000 Alpena Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $70,000 Alpena Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
10 $70,000 Lachine Building fires Significant
06 How Alpena County compares

Alpena County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

23.53
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Alpena County
23.53
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
3.35
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Alpena County
3.35
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
90.5
Civilian fire deaths per million
Alpena County
90.5
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Alpena County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26007.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Alpena County

9 departments report from this county.

Alpena Township FD
Alpena
FDID 00402 105 incidents 6 paid
Blendon Township Fire Dept
Hudsonville
FDID 07021 79 incidents
City of Alpena Fire Department
Alpena
FDID 00401 77 incidents 24 paid
Green Township FD
Lachine
FDID 00408 30 incidents 19 vol
SANBORN TWP FIRE DEPT
OSSINEKE
FDID 00404 17 incidents 12 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.