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2025 County Report

Fires in Arenac County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Arenac County responded to 284 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss.

3,505 residents FIPS 26011 23 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
284
1,287 across 5 years
Building fires
42
34 wildland
Property loss
$2.5M
$1.8M structure · $679K contents
Casualties
2 / 3
2 civ deaths · 2 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 73% of all calls.

284
Total Incidents
Power line down 118 41.5%
Building fires 42 14.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 22 7.7%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 13 4.6%
Grass fire 13 4.6%
All other categories 76 26.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Arenac County?

Jul peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 10
Feb 20
Mar 21
Apr 49
May 16
Jun 22
Jul 57
Aug 19
Sep 15
Oct 22
Nov 21
Dec 12
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Arenac County

1,287 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 362
2022 186
2023 184
2024 271
2025 284
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 42 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
72%
33
Cause undetermined
4%
2
Intentional / arson
7%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
4
Under investigation
4%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Arenac County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 95% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 ALGER Forest, woods or wildland fire Major
2 $300,000 alger Forest, woods or wildland fire Major
3 $300,000 Sterling Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
4 $150,000 ALGER Building fires Significant
5 $100,000 ALGER Forest, woods or wildland fire Significant
6 $100,000 alger Forest, woods or wildland fire Significant
7 $100,000 Alger Building fires Significant
8 $75,000 Omer Building fires Significant
9 $75,000 ALGER Building fires Significant
10 $40,000 ALGER Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Arenac County compares

Arenac County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

81.03
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Arenac County
81.03
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
11.98
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Arenac County
11.98
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
570.6
Civilian fire deaths per million
Arenac County
570.6
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Arenac County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26011.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Arenac County

7 departments report from this county.

LEE TWP FIRE DEPT
MIDLAND
FDID 05611 159 incidents
Standish Area Fire Authority
standish
FDID 00604 86 incidents 23 vol
Au Gres Sims Whitney FD
Au Gres
FDID 00602 44 incidents 25 vol
Sterling Area FD
Sterling
FDID 00601 38 incidents 26 vol
Moffatt Township VFD
Alger
FDID 00608 38 incidents 19 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.