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2025 County Report

Fires in Baraga County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Baraga County responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $40K property loss.

4,784 residents FIPS 26013 21 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
17
227 across 5 years
Building fires
2
1 wildland
Property loss
$83K
$70K structure · $13K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.

17
Total Incidents
Power line down 8 47.1%
Building fires 2 11.8%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 2 11.8%
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 1 5.9%
Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle 1 5.9%
All other categories 3 17.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Baraga County?

Nov peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 0
Feb 0
Mar 0
Apr 1
May 2
Jun 1
Jul 1
Aug 1
Sep 1
Oct 3
Nov 6
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Baraga County

227 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 52
2022 78
2023 61
2024 19
2025 17
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 2 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
33%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
33%
1
Under investigation
33%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $70K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Baraga County during 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $40,000 Baraga Building fires Significant
2 $30,000 Baraga Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
06 How Baraga County compares

Baraga County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

3.55
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Baraga County
3.55
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
0.42
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Baraga County
0.42
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Baraga County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Baraga County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26013.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Baraga County

11 departments report from this county.

Marengo Twp FD
Albion
FDID 01311 45 incidents
Albion DPS
Albion
FDID 01301 42 incidents 34 paid
Pelkie VFD
Pelkie
FDID 00703 8 incidents 21 vol
Baraga FD
Baraga
FDID 00701 6 incidents 20 vol
Keweenaw Bay FD
Keweenaw Bay
FDID 00705 4 incidents 16 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.