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2025 County Report

Fires in Crawford County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Crawford County responded to 147 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $346K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

1,758 residents FIPS 26039 14 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
147
761 across 5 years
Building fires
25
25 wildland
Property loss
$822K
$593K structure · $229K 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 68% of all calls.

147
Total Incidents
Power line down 47 32.0%
Building fires 25 17.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 11 7.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 10 6.8%
Passenger vehicle fire 7 4.8%
All other categories 47 32.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Crawford County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 15
Feb 17
Mar 31
Apr 19
May 14
Jun 13
Jul 5
Aug 5
Sep 6
Oct 8
Nov 10
Dec 4
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Crawford County

761 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 193
2022 161
2023 160
2024 100
2025 147
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 25 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
34%
10
Cause undetermined
7%
2
Intentional / arson
17%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
17%
5
Under investigation
24%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

8 fires · $593K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Crawford County during 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $345,900 Grayling Building fires Major
2 $200,000 Grayling Building fires Significant
3 $20,000 Grayling Building fires Significant
4 $10,000 Grayling Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $10,000 Grayling Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $2,500 Grayling Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $2,500 Grayling Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $2,500 Grayling Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle Significant
06 How Crawford County compares

Crawford County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

83.62
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Crawford County
83.62
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
14.22
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Crawford County
14.22
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Crawford County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Crawford County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26039.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Crawford County

10 departments report from this county.

Cooper Charter Twp
Kalamazoo
FDID 03905 143 incidents
Augusta Ross Township
Augusta
FDID 03902 60 incidents
Frederic Twp VFD
Frederic
FDID 02001 54 incidents 11 paid 29 vol
South Branch Twp FD
Roscommon
FDID 02004 51 incidents 29 vol
Forest Township
Otisville
FDID 02519 40 incidents 26 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.