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2025 County Report

Fires in Calhoun County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Calhoun County responded to 1,125 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss.

81,254 residents FIPS 26025 37 cities · 19 fire depts
Total incidents
1,125
8,332 across 5 years
Building fires
161
83 wildland
Property loss
$5.5M
$4.3M structure · $1.2M contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 2 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 62% of all calls.

1,125
Total Incidents
Power line down 269 23.9%
Building fires 161 14.3%
Hazardous condition, other 131 11.6%
Unauthorized burning 71 6.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 65 5.8%
All other categories 428 38.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Calhoun County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 64
Feb 37
Mar 190
Apr 103
May 120
Jun 146
Jul 121
Aug 108
Sep 69
Oct 82
Nov 51
Dec 34
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Calhoun County

8,332 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 2,027
2022 1,783
2023 2,008
2024 1,389
2025 1,125
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 161 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
57%
139
Cause undetermined
17%
41
Intentional / arson
10%
25
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
22
Under investigation
6%
15
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Calhoun County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 75% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,500,000 Battle Creek Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Major
2 $300,000 Marshall Building fires Major
3 $270,400 BATTLE CREEK Building fires Major
4 $250,000 Battle Creek Building fires Major
5 $200,000 Burlington Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
6 $150,000 Albiuon Building fires Significant
7 $150,000 Battle Creek Building fires Significant
8 $150,000 Springfield Building fires Significant
9 $130,000 Albion Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 Battle Creek Building fires Significant
06 How Calhoun County compares

Calhoun County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.85
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Calhoun County
13.85
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
1.98
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Calhoun County
1.98
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Calhoun County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Calhoun County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26025.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Calhoun County

19 departments report from this county.

Pennfield Twp FD
Battle Creek
FDID 01315 235 incidents 4 paid
Bedford Twp FD
Battle Creek
FDID 01305 133 incidents
Marshall FD
MARSHALL
FDID 01312 120 incidents 8 paid
Gaines Twp FD
GAINES
FDID 02526 118 incidents
Sheridan Twp FD
ALBION
FDID 01316 94 incidents 3 paid
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.