In 2025, fire departments serving Houghton County responded to 216 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $350K property loss.
Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jun dips.
873 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 140 | |
| 2022 | 207 | |
| 2023 | 169 | |
| 2024 | 141 | |
| 2025 | 216 |
For the 28 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Houghton County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 83% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Chassell | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $300,000 | Houghton | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $250,000 | Chassell | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $250,000 | Houghton | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $150,000 | Tapiola | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $150,000 | dollar bay | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $150,000 | Houghton | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 8 | $150,000 | Houghton | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 9 | $150,000 | Amasa | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
| 10 | $100,000 | Chassell | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 26061.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Houghton | 8,303 | View › |
| Hancock | 4,526 | View › |
| Laurium | 1,669 | View › |
| Dollar Bay | 1,184 | View › |
| Lake Linden | 1,183 | View › |
| Chassell | 801 | View › |
| Hubbell | 769 | View › |
| Calumet | 719 | View › |
| Atlantic Mine | 552 | View › |
| South Range | 509 | View › |
| Dodgeville | 463 | View › |
| Painesdale | 330 | View › |
23 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.