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2025 County Report

Fires in Isabella County, MI

In 2025, fire departments serving Isabella County responded to 447 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss.

27,269 residents FIPS 26073 29 cities · 12 fire depts
Total incidents
447
1,947 across 5 years
Building fires
69
30 wildland
Property loss
$3.1M
$2.1M structure · $1.0M 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 67% of all calls.

447
Total Incidents
Power line down 142 31.8%
Building fires 69 15.4%
Hazardous condition, other 32 7.2%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 31 6.9%
Unauthorized burning 25 5.6%
All other categories 148 33.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Isabella County?

Dec peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 24
Feb 30
Mar 24
Apr 39
May 40
Jun 42
Jul 35
Aug 39
Sep 21
Oct 15
Nov 28
Dec 110
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Isabella County

1,947 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 484
2022 276
2023 352
2024 388
2025 447
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 69 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
60%
51
Cause undetermined
13%
11
Intentional / arson
5%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
9
Under investigation
8%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.5M in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Mt Pleasant Building fires Major
2 $250,000 MOUNT PLEASANT Building fires Major
3 $200,000 Mt Pleasant Building fires Significant
4 $150,000 Mount Pleasant Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 Blanchard Building fires Significant
6 $130,000 Mount Pleasant Building fires Significant
7 $100,000 Mount Pleasant Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 Shepherd Building fires Significant
9 $80,000 Shepherd Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $75,000 Mount Pleasant Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Isabella County compares

Isabella County vs MI vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.39
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Isabella County
16.39
MI avg
14.06
US avg
7.15
2.53
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Isabella County
2.53
MI avg
2.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Isabella County
0
MI avg
13.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Isabella County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 26073.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Isabella County

12 departments report from this county.

Mt Pleasant Fire Department
Mt Pleasant
FDID 03702 243 incidents 13 paid
Carrollton Twp FD
Saginaw
FDID 07306 59 incidents
Richland Township Fire Dept
Hemlock
FDID 07309 49 incidents 1 paid
Deerfield Township Fire Depart
Mt Pleasant
FDID 03708 48 incidents
NottawaSherman Township FD
Weidman
FDID 03703 40 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.