Home› Counties› MI› Clinton County
2025 County Report

Fires in Clinton County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Clinton County responded to 368 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss.

24,028 residents FIPS 26037 23 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
368
2,267 across 5 years
Building fires
105
24 wildland
Property loss
$5.2M
$3.2M structure · $1.9M contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.

368
Total Incidents
Building fires 105 28.5%
Power line down 95 25.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 24 6.5%
Unauthorized burning 14 3.8%
Passenger vehicle fire 12 3.3%
All other categories 118 32.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Clinton County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 44
Feb 15
Mar 64
Apr 45
May 34
Jun 50
Jul 16
Aug 21
Sep 23
Oct 31
Nov 10
Dec 15
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Clinton County

2,267 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 401
2022 492
2023 550
2024 456
2025 368
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 105 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
48%
30
Cause undetermined
17%
11
Intentional / arson
6%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
19%
12
Under investigation
5%
3
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Clinton County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 82% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 St Johns Building fires Major
2 $390,000 St Johns Building fires Major
3 $300,000 OVID Building fires Major
4 $175,000 DeWitt Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 Ovid Building fires Significant
6 $150,000 Westphalia Building fires Significant
7 $140,000 St Johns Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
8 $140,000 Wacousta Building fires Significant
9 $121,200 WATERTOWN TWP Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 City of Saint Johns Building fires Significant
06 How Clinton County compares

Clinton County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

15.32
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Clinton County
15.32
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
4.37
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Clinton County
4.37
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Clinton County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Clinton County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26037.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Clinton County

11 departments report from this county.

St Johns FD
St Johns
FDID 01908 91 incidents
Bath Twp FD
Bath
FDID 01901 81 incidents
DEWITT TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPT
DEWITT
FDID 01904 52 incidents 1 paid
OvidMiddlebury FD
Ovid
FDID 01907 49 incidents
Maple Rapids VFD
Maple Rapids
FDID 01906 25 incidents 18 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.