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2025 County Report

Fires in Ionia County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Ionia County responded to 696 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss.

30,191 residents FIPS 26067 20 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
696
3,240 across 5 years
Building fires
96
63 wildland
Property loss
$4.6M
$3.6M structure · $1.0M 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 60% of all calls.

696
Total Incidents
Power line down 160 23.0%
Building fires 96 13.8%
Authorized controlled burning 92 13.2%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 43 6.2%
Carbon monoxide incident 29 4.2%
All other categories 276 39.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Ionia County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 66
Feb 34
Mar 134
Apr 92
May 78
Jun 55
Jul 50
Aug 50
Sep 49
Oct 27
Nov 35
Dec 26
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Ionia County

3,240 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 625
2022 490
2023 693
2024 736
2025 696
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 96 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
66%
75
Cause undetermined
11%
12
Intentional / arson
8%
9
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
10
Under investigation
5%
6
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.6M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Ionia County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 72% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 Portland Building fires Major
2 $500,000 Saranac Building fires Major
3 $450,000 Lake Odessa Building fires Major
4 $350,000 Saranac Building fires Major
5 $150,000 Portland Building fires Significant
6 $150,000 LAKE ODESSA Building fires Significant
7 $140,000 Portland Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
8 $123,000 Ionia Building fires Significant
9 $120,000 IONIA Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $100,000 Pewamo Power line down Significant
06 How Ionia County compares

Ionia County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

23.05
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Ionia County
23.05
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
3.18
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Ionia County
3.18
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Ionia County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Ionia County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26067.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Ionia County

11 departments report from this county.

Saranac Community Fire Dept
Saranac
FDID 03410 151 incidents 1 paid 29 vol
Ionia DPS
Ionia
FDID 03403 142 incidents 19 paid 15 vol
Portland Area Fire Authority
Portland
FDID 03409 59 incidents
Hubbardston Fire Dept
Hubbardston
FDID 03402 53 incidents
Berlin Orange FD
Ionia
FDID 03413 34 incidents 21 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.