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2025 County Report

Fires in Clare County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Clare County responded to 492 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

6,711 residents FIPS 26035 16 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
492
2,195 across 5 years
Building fires
93
69 wildland
Property loss
$4.9M
$3.0M structure · $1.9M contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 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 68% of all calls.

492
Total Incidents
Power line down 171 34.8%
Building fires 93 18.9%
Grass fire 25 5.1%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 23 4.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 21 4.3%
All other categories 159 32.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Clare County?

Dec peaks. Jan dips.

Jan 16
Feb 22
Mar 58
Apr 66
May 45
Jun 26
Jul 44
Aug 36
Sep 27
Oct 23
Nov 25
Dec 104
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Clare County

2,195 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 499
2022 398
2023 398
2024 408
2025 492
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 93 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
73%
94
Cause undetermined
12%
16
Intentional / arson
2%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
3%
4
Under investigation
7%
9
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Clare County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 78% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 Garfield Twp Building fires Major
2 $300,000 Farwell Building fires Major
3 $175,000 HARRISON Building fires Significant
4 $170,000 Farwell Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 HARRISON Building fires Significant
6 $120,000 HARRISON Building fires Significant
7 $110,000 Harrison Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
8 $100,000 HARRISON Building fires Significant
9 $100,000 Farwell Fire, other Significant
10 $80,000 HARRISON Building fires Significant
06 How Clare County compares

Clare County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

73.31
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Clare County
73.31
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
13.86
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Clare County
13.86
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Clare County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Clare County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26035.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Clare County

8 departments report from this county.

City of Clare
Clare
FDID 01801 109 incidents
Plainfield Twp Fire Dept
Hale
FDID 03505 61 incidents
Garfield Township FD
—
FDID 01805 55 incidents
EAST TAWAS FIRE DEPT
EAST TAWAS
FDID 03503 45 incidents 1 paid
Surrey Twp FD
Farwell
FDID 01802 44 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.