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2025 County Report

Fires in Barry County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Barry County responded to 647 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $600K property loss.

15,441 residents FIPS 26015 27 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
647
2,913 across 5 years
Building fires
89
47 wildland
Property loss
$4.1M
$2.7M structure · $1.4M contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 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 63% of all calls.

647
Total Incidents
Power line down 183 28.3%
Building fires 89 13.8%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 77 11.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 34 5.3%
Authorized controlled burning 25 3.9%
All other categories 239 36.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Barry County?

Mar peaks. Feb dips.

Jan 47
Feb 22
Mar 107
Apr 82
May 100
Jun 52
Jul 51
Aug 36
Sep 39
Oct 44
Nov 29
Dec 38
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Barry County

2,913 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 616
2022 471
2023 547
2024 632
2025 647
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 89 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
61%
53
Cause undetermined
13%
11
Intentional / arson
14%
12
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
6
Under investigation
3%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.5M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Barry County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 93% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $600,000 Freeport Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other Major
2 $400,000 Middleville Building fires Major
3 $289,000 Delton Building fires Major
4 $250,000 HASTINGS Building fires Major
5 $250,000 Freeport Building fires Major
6 $200,000 Freeport Building fires Significant
7 $200,000 Lak Building fires Significant
8 $125,000 Middleville Building fires Significant
9 $100,000 Nashville Building fires Significant
10 $80,000 Middleville Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
06 How Barry County compares

Barry County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

41.9
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Barry County
41.9
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
5.76
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Barry County
5.76
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Barry County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Barry County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26015.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Barry County

10 departments report from this county.

HASTINGS FIRE DEPARTMENT
HASTINGS
FDID 00803 302 incidents 2 paid
Johnstown Township Fire Depart
Battle Creek
FDID 00809 48 incidents
Delton FD
Delton
FDID 00801 38 incidents 20 vol
Hickory Corners FD
Hickcory Corners
FDID 00804 32 incidents 5 paid
Yankee Springs FD
Wayland
FDID 00811 32 incidents
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.